Reticent Watcher by Fenris30
by Evilswrath1
Summary: Re-uploading a series by Fenris30 Romance of Sergei Dragunov x Lili Rochefort
1. Chapter 1

Reticent Watcher Fenris30

Summary:

* * *

Mr. Rochefort has to go away for the summer on an important business trip, but he and his family and manor are still in trouble with the Mishima Zaibatsu. Since he needs to take about half of their personal guards with them, he manages to strike a deal-which includes a staggering sum-with the Russian oil corporation he is meeting with to get their military's best man, Sergei Dragunov, as a guard for the summer. Lili, his daughter, was all ready for her summer-she was going on a vacation with friends, probably sneaking off to some tournaments...and became very disappointed that her summer was cut short and her fun cancelled, figuring it would be one of the most boring ever. Sergei himself would have rather been on the battlefield, but this was a job, and he would do it to the best of his ability as always.

Lili would end up wrong on the boring part, however...

Notes:

* * *

The start of the main series of my 'Tekken Fanon.'

This setup visits the sort of not-unheard of 'theme' of Dragunov ending up as sort of a 'guard' for Lili. This theme has been used in several fics and in many different ways, but I decided to do my take on it. It spans four chapters, and as usual, it gets really filthy at a point because it's me and of course it does.

As always, Namco owns these characters and Tekken, not me.

Chapter 1: Summer is Cancelled?

* * *

 _I could have helped take care of things. He knows I can fight. Plus, there's Sebastian. And our personal guards. Why did he have to go this far?_

Lili Rochefort had her entire summer planned out months before. She was going to finish her junior year and then do some traveling with a few friends. Maybe even getting into some more fighting tournaments, which she knew her father sort of despised. She was planning on lots of things.

But her father had ended up in a bit of trouble again with the Zaibatsu...however this time he seemed to have some sort of extra protection. Recently he had been meeting with a higher-up of a Russian oil corporation, and was going there for some business deals with another cybernetics corporation located out of Belgium. He would have the best guards and services...but he feared for his daughter, as roughly half of their current guards had to go with him.

One of the Russian fellows-who had ties to the military-managed to set up a rather interesting trade. Well, money for services, sort of like a mercenary deal...which Mr. Rochefort preferred to think of as 'Hiring a Guard' instead since it left a better taste in his mouth. The sum was quite grand, and because of this the military passed on who may have been their best man...since it was only for a summer. Mr. Rochefort had indeed asked for their best man to be included in the unit, and they were hesitant at first-about to offer several more good ones since their best was extremely valuable-but when the amount of money became clear they talked for just a few moments and agreed.

That man was Sergei Dragunov, and he was now standing in the manor, looking out of the front door as Lili milled about.

Sergei had said all of three words to her since he had arrived a week ago. He had his own quarters, fairly near to hers in the east wing of the mansion, two floors up. He rarely spoke, and he frightened most of her friends that came over. Not that he went out of his way to...he was just plain scary.

It's not that he looked bad. Quite the opposite-he was actually very attractive. To her, anyway. Her friends were a bit weirded out by him-the few that visited this summer, in any case-as most of them were going on the trip that she was supposed to go on.

He was very tall-towering over most of her other guards by a full head-and so pale that she wondered how he didn't burst into flames when he walked outdoors. His eyes were such a pale blue they were nearly white, and his gaze was unsettling. His hair was worn longer than usual, but some was kept neatly pulled back; he was cleanly shaven and well groomed as most military men tended to be on duty. When she first met him, he was wearing his dress outfit-tie, long sleeves, jacket and officer's cap. She thought he must have been sweltering outside as it had been over ninety degrees, but his expression did not change. Now he wore a bit less; cargo trousers, heavy combat boots, and a sleeveless shirt; he did wear a sort of vest over this which turned out to be Kevlar. He had only a knife on his belt and some sort pistol holstered at his side; she didn't know guns too well so she had no idea what kind it was. He had a lot of scars on his body, though she knew he was no stranger to combat.

She even remembered his name in one of the past King of Iron Fist tournaments, and some rather violent rumors that surrounded him.

Sebastian had told her more. He had met him before she did, as he had been along with Mr. Rochefort on the trip to pick him up; but his nickname was the 'White Angel of Death' because of his prowess on the battlefield. He didn't go into details, but Lili could read between the lines and understand that meant 'He killed a whole lot of people.' She had watched him train one day; his blows were so fierce and his strength so great a single, brutal roundhouse kick was able to break one of the heavier training bags, so she was able to quickly deduce what he could do to a human being.

The silence could be the most unsettling at times, though. He spoke only when necessary, and only with as many words as needed to convey his thoughts. Sure, if he had to relay a proper message he would, but he seemed to despise idle chatter and small talk. He was polite though, and would greet her whenever she came in with a nod of his head and a courteous bow. She wondered how good his English was, and was assured by Sebastian that it was fluent. Which was good, since it turned out while he did speak a couple of other languages besides Russian and English, French was not one of them. He knew a few words; many military types she heard did pick up bits and pieces in their travels. His voice could even be intimidating the odd times he talked-it was quite deep, though he spoke quietly.

But there was something still a bit off about him being there. She felt a bit trapped and overly guarded. She wondered why she wouldn't have been fine with herself, their current handful of bodyguards, and Sebastian-the old man could hold his own when necessary, and he actually knew how to shoot a rifle; rich older men, Lili remembered, tended to take part in hunting and the like.

Sebastian said that he was aging and but one man; he was not nearly skilled enough to take on some of the potential enemies their father had, and Lili knew deep down that fighting people like certain blowhard tomboys and other tournament folk was a far cry from taking on highly trained mercenaries with large guns. Their guards who patrolled the estate were skilled enough, but her father-always demanding the best for his daughter-wanted more. He was going to get several men along with Sergei, but after talking with the one high-ranking officer, discovered this one man could do the job of many, and one man was also more subtle and less of a target.

So, there was Sergei, now living at their estate for the summer...and possibly into the fall, with her father recently letting them know about a sudden extension to the trip.

Sergei himself wasn't too bothered, though he would have preferred to have been back in his environment doing actual combat-oriented things rather than guarding a teenager that talked a bit too much. She was well-mannered, though-close to eighteen, so about ten years younger than he-and really not as difficult as someone of her status could have been.

His orders were fairly simple; watch her. If she went out, he was to follow, though he could keep as comfortable of a distance as he felt. If anyone tried to harm her, he was to deal with them in whatever manner he felt appropriate. Mr. Rochefort, a pacifist, said those words to him with a bit of a grimace, since he knew what that probably entailed from a man whom had probably killed more men with his bare hands than his entire unit had with firearms.

He wasn't unhappy with his location, at least. The mansion was...well, impressive didn't even begin to describe it. It was more a gargantuan manor; the main building being three floors and bigger than the one base he stayed on. It sat on many acres, and had about anything he wanted. He had keys to every place he needed. His room was close to Lili's, on the second floor, near the end of a giant hallway. Most of the time he simply patrolled the manor and the grounds closest-the outdoor pool area, the gazebo, patio and garage. He had full use of the training facilities which he used daily. He did not seem to need much sleep-he went to bed after midnight and woke around six. Regardless on how hot it was outside, the mansion's air conditioning was perfect, keeping the place comfortable at all times. He actually somewhat enjoyed his rounds since he seemed to find something new quite often.

He was fairly well suited to this job as he had the uncanny ability to take boredom well...which was good for something like this. He found himself occasionally in their huge library; Sergei was rather well read, though mostly he enjoyed things on military history...which he found some interesting things on in the Rochefort's collection. They had a little of everything, though. The heat of the Monaco summer didn't bother him too much, as Western and Central Russia could actually get quite hot in the summer as well.

He looked out the front door of the manor and decided to patrol the grounds again. It didn't hurt to be diligent even during the day, after all.

As he walked around, he bumped into Lili, who had been coming from the kitchen after her coffee. He nodded politely as she smoothed her long, blonde hair out. Lili looked older than her seventeen years would let on; she probably could have passed for around twenty or so. Taller than most girls, though still considerably shorter than Sergei, she was fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and had a toned dancer's build. She kept herself very well-taken care of at all times. Most men found themselves looking very easily, though Sergei was _generally_ above such things.

"Hi," she said, stopping.

He stopped, looking at her.

She blinked. "You don't like to talk much, do you?"

Sergei shook his head.

Lili raised an eyebrow. "Would asking how your first week has been be too much?"

"It has been pleasant."

She snorted laughter. "I'll leave you on your way, then." _He's not one for small talk. Or any sort of talk for that matter._

Sergei nodded again and kept making his rounds.

She looked over, chuckling again. _Couldn't you have maybe found a more exciting guard, Daddy?_

Checking the time, she figured she ought to start her training, to follow up with a swim. It was quite hot today.

–

Lili had come inside after some time in the pool-one of her favorite summer pastimes. The weather started to get overcast, threatening rain-summer storms were common-so she decided to come in to relax and perhaps even have a nap.

As she walked by the main kitchen, she heard a strange sound coming from the patio outside of it. It sounded like...singing?

 _Who sings here?_ She took piano lessons and started to show an interest in the violin as well, but she did not know anyone else in the house that did. Maybe one of the servants had a hidden talent?

It _was_ talent she thought, too; as she got closer, the voice was deep, very bold, and was seemingly singing some sort of opera...in a language she had to think about to recognize for a moment. While she did not speak it, she could recognize it now by the sound.

The voice was singing in Russian.

 _No...way._

She picked up the pace, creeping quietly outside the kitchen and glancing in.

She saw Sergei standing on the patio outside the kitchen, having a cigarette. No one was around. She kept listening...and he was, indeed, singing.

Lili could not have been more surprised if Jin and Hwoarang-whom she had known from the tournament-had flown in on a magic carpet and told her that no, there really _was_ nothing going on between them.

A smile crept onto her face. It was _really_ damn good. She wondered if he was trained. She almost even recognized the piece-while her musical tastes were fairly broad-from rock to pop to other odds and ends-she was fairly schooled in the classics, as were most that went to the extremely rich private schools that she did. She wondered if he could sing in other styles.

This went on a few more moments, when it stopped, and she heard his heavy heels echoing on the floor as he came back inside and closed the door. She quickly left, tiptoeing around the corner before running up the back flight of stairs, chuckling.

 _Seems like my guard has another side to him._

She had no idea why this amused her so. Maybe it _was_ even more than that-it impressed her. His voice was rather lovely, and she was kind of happy to find out that the seemingly unflappable, stoic, emotionless killer commando her father 'gifted' her with had some hidden depths to him.

She decided not to let him know, that she saw, though.

Not _yet_ , anyway.

As she got changed, she thought about what her upcoming summer might be like. She hoped that it wouldn't be as boring as she first thought.

 _Be careful what you wish for, Lili._

 _Maybe you don't want too much excitement..._


	2. Chapter 2

Lili awoke, feeling a bit bad from what she did the night before. She had snuck out for awhile, and she was pretty sure no one knew. If Sergei had known, he probably would have dragged her back on her father's orders...though given that she was also the boss of the manor, she probably could have convinced him to let her stay so long as he was able to keep watch.

 _Pft. I'm almost eighteen, I don't need a babysitter. Especially a weird one with a giant body count that doesn't even talk._

Still, she had to admit that Sergei was much, much less invasive than she thought he would be in the month he had been there. Besides being quiet, he was polite, well groomed, and was not hard on the eyes besides so she found that he was actually one of the best 'protectors' that her father had ever found. The scariest, for sure, but still the best.

It was just another day for her. Wake, spend some time on her laptop, go to train after her piano lessons. Then on to look over some university courses, since she would be starting after the next year-she knew she would be going into business, being the heiress to the company, but she wondered about what electives she would take.

It was another blistering hot day, so she decided to go swimming in the afternoon. Letting a few of the butlers and maids know to have a few things prepped when she was done, she headed out to the pool.

She had swam a few laps and was starting to swim to the side when she saw Sergei walking over, having done a round of the grounds. She made it to the side, folding her arms there and looking up at him as he came closer. He nodded in greeting as he usually did, wiping some sweat from his brow and folding his arms.

"Do you swim?" she asked.

"Now and then. It is good exercise."

"Not for fun?" After a pause, she thought that was perhaps a stupid question. She more wondered if Sergei Dragunov ever did anything 'for fun'.

"For leisure now and then." He looked up and down the length of the pool, pausing for a moment to glance down at Lili. Her bikini did not leave much to the imagination, and he did like what he saw, though he said nothing and glanced off to the side quickly. He was here on business.

"You're welcome in at any time, you know." Lili saw him glance, but kept silent. She chuckled to herself, though. So, he's not a robot. That's good. She was almost proud of him. She never tried to get him to notice her in that way, but the fact he did made her feel both flattered and relieved; flattered that someone with his demeanor would actually notice her, and relieved that her father had not stuck her with a cyborg for the entire summer.

"I'll keep that in mind." He nodded his head, turning to walk back to the main house.

"By the way, Sergei...you sing well." She decided to mention this finally. It seemed like a good time.

Sergei stopped in his tracks for a moment, bringing his hand up to his face it seemed, though he was turned around and she could not see exactly what he was doing. She propelled herself a bit down the length of the pool to get closer to him. He turned to the side for a moment, glancing directly at her...

...and his mouth broke into a small smirk. "Thank you," he said.

Lili blinked. "You should do that more often."

Sergei raised an eyebrow, the smirk still there. "Sing?"

Lili smiled. "Both." She turned and swam off, leaving him to his thoughts.

I think I just teased him there. Am I really that mean?

When she turned back, she saw him still watching for a moment before he rubbed his chin, turned, and walked inside.

She still saw the ghost of the smirk on his face.

–

She saw it was around ten. Not too late; she figured she would retire to her room, watch some movies, drink spiked coffee, and mess about online. She had a pretty calm day, and she nodded to Sergei as she passed by him on the way to her room.

He gave her a curt nod...but seemed somewhat on edge tonight.

She blinked, wondering what was going on. She hoped her teasing didn't upset him. She was almost growing fond of having him around at this point. She saw him quickly walk downstairs, adjusting his knife on his belt.

What's going on?

She thought maybe he was just having a moment and decided to continue on with her planned night. The air conditioning was going full blast, the mint liquor she added to the coffee was tasty, and the movie she found was rather brain-dead; something that was nice background noise while she chatted with her friends who were on the vacation that she should have been on.

The first bumps she didn't even notice, but the second couple she did. She sat up suddenly, turning off her entertainment center and cracking a window to listen.

More bumps, and also scratches...sounding like it was coming from outside.

It sounded like people.

Her stomach sank. They couldn't have...there are security systems if anyone clears the gate. We would have known long before they got to the mansion.

She peeked out her window...and indeed saw shadows about. Her heart raced. She wondered where the guards were. More importantly, she wondered where Sergei was.

"Sergei?" she called out. When she heard more sounds about outside, she quieted down again.

There was more shuffling for a few moments...and then she heard a muffled whump, a rather nasty cracking sound, and a man's scream which was silenced with a few more rather nasty sounds.

Lili jumped backward, wanting to know what was happening. She peeked her head out her window after mustering up some guts; she was afraid to do so at first in case they had guns, but now she had to know.

She saw a massive figure fighting three men, with one lying still off to the side. She ducked back down as she heard more wet smacks and crunching bone...and then somehow madness overtook her and she started to make her way downstairs. She had no idea why she was doing this; her direct thoughts told her to simply stay in her room; lock the windows, lock the doors, and wait until it was over. But her curiosity was too much.

Daddy would say I had more bravery than sense...he always told me so.

She stayed inside, but hid around the patio doors in the main kitchen, as she heard another yell that sound almost tortured. He's killing them, she realized, whoever they were. She went even further in her seemingly mad actions and cracked the door. She could close and lock it quickly if necessary, and the glass she knew was protective. It was madness, heading down closer to the danger...but she had always been daring. She figured there was a sort of dark curiosity of wanting to see just what sort of protector Sergei truly was.

There was a final scream before it was cut off by a muffled crunch. She twitched a bit, wondering what exactly had gone on.

She ran out back after there was a few moments of silence. I'm putting myself in danger. But...no. It's over. I know it. I need to know if...

When she arrived finally to the area near where the gazebo was, she was greeted with a corpse slumped over one of the low walls there. She stopped in her tracks, her stomach dropping.

The man was no one she knew-definitely one of the attackers, judging by the holster on his hip...that was unsnapped, though the gun did not have time to come out. The man was laying over the wall on his back...only he was almost folded over it. His arm looked nearly torn out of the socket; it seemed the only thing holding it on was skin and his body armor. Lili twitched, feeling a little lightheaded for a moment.

Spines don't bend that way.

The man's face was also bloody, telling her that this man had likely ended up in the grasp of Sergei.

Of course he did.

Backing away with an almost morbid fascination, she turned to run the corner, coming around to where the huge patio was.

There were three more corpses, and Sergei standing there spattered in blood.

The first one near her had an arm and a leg twisted in rather grotesque ways, and a knife in the side of his neck; it did not seem to be Sergei's knife, though. She guessed that in a desperate attempt to get the huge Spetsnaz off of him he pulled his knife with a good limb, but was too far beaten to be effective with it. Sergei simply turned it around and stuffed it into his attacker's neck. Blood had flowed onto the grass, which she tried to jump over. She gulped, but kept her composure. They were here to attack you.

The second was lying off to the side, his head twisted around and blood pouring from his mouth and nose. He seemed like he never even had much of a chance before Sergei simply killed him outright. Probably taken by surprise.

Finally, the final man lay on the pavement face-down, Sergei standing in front of him with his massive boot on the back of his head. Blood-so much blood-flowed freely from underneath, and Lili was happy the man was face down since she had a feeling she would not like to see what was there, especially the way his head looked from where she was standing. She knew from the condition Sergei had outright smashed it in. Lili felt a bit dizzy again at this; judging by his position Sergei had knocked him to the ground and stomped him before he was able to recover. His enormous strength did the rest.

Pragmatic. Pragmatic and brutal, Lili thought. This was nothing like the fights she had been in. The guys who kidnapped her simply had some bloody noses and lips afterward with some bruises and lumps from hitting the ground. She'd given Asuka a bloody nose a couple of times. Sergei did not fight in self-defense, though. He fought to kill. She looked at the corpse a few more moments before shaking her head.

Sergei turned to face her, the look in his eyes cold. After a moment they softened to more of a neutral look as he turned around to walk over to her.

"Did they get inside?" he asked.

"...N...no. This was all of them I guess. I hope." She looked uncomfortable. Blood was spattered across his chest, face, hands, and boots. She realized now the difference between fighting in a tournament and fighting for real. It was nothing like it; Sergei had butchered four men with his bare hands and he looked it.

"Are you okay?" he asked seemingly checking her for wounds.

"Y...yes." She composed herself. Part of her was fascinated by this. "I'm fine. They never got in. I never even saw them. You stopped them."

He nodded, wiping his hands off on his trousers.

"How did they get past the sensors?"

"Their clothing. We have such in the military. If they had anything to do with the Zaibatsu, they could get it."

She nodded. She noticed a few cuts on his arms, as he still wore his sleeveless shirt. One seemed to actually go under the vest at his shoulder. "You should get those looked at."

"Get inside. These are nothing."

Lili just nodded. She felt like this was one of those times that when he told her to do something, she should listen, since it was for her own good. She knew this wasn't him trying to be some sort of boss of the mansion. This was him trying to protect her life. The men had been armed with large-caliber guns, and could have probably shot her before she had a chance to defend herself.

Is this going to be my life now? she wondered as she walked inside.

–

She sat in her kitchen-not even in her night-clothes yet but wearing shorts and a tank top instead-sipping a cup of coffee spiked with a bit of Irish cream. Despite the fact she was a few months short of eighteen, glasses of wine and such were commonplace in families such as hers, so it wasn't like she was sneaking it. The coffee was to help her stay awake-she didn't really want to sleep after this-but the Irish cream would calm her down somewhat from what she just witnessed.

Her kitchen was a massive and lonely place with only one person sitting in it. She had a retinue of cooks, maids, butlers, and the like, but she asked them to leave her be.

She always knew that her family was in some danger, but this was the first time people had tried to come to their house. She figured that someone had found out they had less guards there now, but obviously they had not heard about Sergei's presence. Or if they did, they had no idea who they were dealing with. Either way, the result was the same; her would-be attackers were dead. She didn't think they would have killed her if she hadn't fought back since they probably wanted her for ransom...but she would have fought back, and that may have meant her death. Those handguns had been big.

She didn't know what to think of Sergei now. He had killed those men without a second thought. She wondered if he had to go that far, but then she wondered if they would have come back. She was still a bit shaky at their condition, as it had been terribly brutal. The guards, she imagined, would be getting rid of them, and along with Sebastian dealing with any sort of authorities-whom she understood knew about her father's situation. She wondered what it would have been like to watch, though. She enjoyed watching him train-mostly for his skill but she admitted seeing him in his training outfit wasn't so bad either-but she had never seen the results of him fighting in anger before now.

She heard the door open behind her and jumped a bit; but when she heard the sound of heavy boot-heels on the floor behind her she knew who it was. She turned around, seeing Sergei walking toward her. He had changed into clothing that was not bloodied-just a fresh pair of trousers and boots-and had a few bandages wrapped around his arms and one over his shoulder where he had gotten slashed. A servant stepped in and seemingly offered him something; he nodded as they stopped to pour him some clear liquid in a short glass. He nodded once again as the servant left and he made his way over to the table. He stood next to it at the counter, sipping the drink, before Lili pulled the chair out to let him know he could sit if she wished. He did so, settling back and looking at her for a moment.

That was polite of him, she thought off-handedly. The more she thought about it, Sergei was less invasive than some of her family's security guards, despite being about twenty times as effective...and brutal.

She snorted a bit of laughter after a few moments of silence. "Maybe we ought to keep you here instead of the guards." She glanced over at him.

Sergei cracked a tiny smirk at that.

She turned toward him, holding her cup in both hands. "You think they'll try again?"

He shook his head. "Probably not yet. They were mercenaries hired by the Zaibatsu no doubt. When they don't return, they'll probably wait awhile."

"They probably wanted me for ransom."

Sergei nodded. "I'd guess so."

"If I fought back..."

"They probably would have killed you. They were types not to like resistance. They would have probably just used that to get your father to surrender. I know those kinds of mercenaries."

Lili sighed sadly. She didn't like her family getting targeted, and she liked not being able to do something about it even less. It sort of hit her a bit more about the attempt tonight, and made her shiver. She looked up at him. "I suppose I owe you."

"I'm here to guard you. You owe nothing."

She looked up at him, getting a small smile again. She stood for a moment to get the bottle of vodka that he had-some of their most expensive imported stuff-to bring it back before offering it to him as she sat back down. "Would you accept thanks?"

He looked at the bottle, then her, and smirked again. He never seemed to smile...but he had a smirk that showed from time to time when he felt like it. He took it from her, opened it, and poured a bit more into his glass before downing it in a gulp. He took out a cigarette, standing to walk out to the patio on the other side of the kitchen-more away from where the excitement had taken place. Lili stood to follow him out, standing next to him. She was boggling how he could do what he did and then act like nothing happened. It must take some special training for that. Or a certain sort of person.

After several moments of silence, she turned to him. "Would they have come back if you hadn't killed them?"

He turned toward her and shrugged. "I was not about to take that chance."

She looked at him as he smoked. "Would you show me some things? Some things that could help me defend myself against stuff like this?"

He looked at her. "That's not part of my job."

She raised an eyebrow. "Technically when my father is away I'm the head of the estate."

He smirked again after a few moments. "That you are. Yes, I think there are some things."

"Like how to deal with an armed opponent. That's what I don't know a lot about. Especially people like the ones you...killed."

"That is easy enough. I would just be careful attempting it."

"Only in emergencies, I promise." She folder her arms and leaned against the wall, looking down. She was silent again for awhile, thinking of everything, and how this came to be. "I miss my old life," she said, quietly. "We had the company for ages. I've grown up rich. But I felt safe until about two years ago. Now..." she trailed off. "First I was kidnapped. I fought back and managed to escape. Knocked two or three of them kinda silly." She sighed. "It seems every month that goes by my father has more problems. That's why I entered the tournament. But...I lost. I wanted to go back this summer. But then...this. And now they tried to come after me again. This time..." she trailed off again, but stayed quiet this time. Somehow, she felt okay telling him things. Maybe due to his silence, she had a feeling that anything she said would not leave this patio.

Sergei simply looked at her a few moments, silent. He walked over to stand next to her by the wall.

She looked back up at him; as usual, he showed little emotion. She studied his eyes for a moment, however...and saw that for once there was a hint of something that could have been sympathy. At least close to it, which from him made her feel quite appreciative.

"You fought in the tournament," she said.

"Only due to the mission. I had to proceed further in. I usually do not care for little games."

"That one man..." Lili had remembered something.

Sergei snorted. "No business being in the tournament. I did not go into the fight wishing for that to happen. But he tried to duck at the wrong time." He shook his head. "Barely skilled enough for his job. Probably greedy for the money."

"So it was true." There was a story going around that Sergei had killed an opponent, but as stories go, she didn't know if it was true or not. They did not know who he was-a nameless security guard of some sort. Apparently, he had the man against the wall and threw a vicious mule-kick to his midsection; Sergei had known it would have put him out quickly, blowing the wind out of him-probably breaking some ribs in the process, but it would be over. But he ducked at the wrong time and instead his head was smashed against the wall; the force of it had apparently done 'excessive damage' as the rumors went.

They never did get the blood out completely.

Nothing came of it, as it was an accident. People kept their distance from him even more than before, though, due to his indifferent reaction.

Lili imagined the 'excessive damage' was probably pretty horrible to watch having seen his handiwork outside. Yet...she did not fear. She looked up at him again, meeting his gaze finally for more than a few moments.

The scars on his face had to be pretty terrible to get. She knew how much those wounds could bleed. She wondered if they affected him or not, or even where they came from. The one on his mouth almost looked deliberate; personal. Her eyes trailed down to his torso, as she noticed the others up close and personal now; they looked like they could have killed him. She wondered how many of those people were still alive...she guessed probably none of them.

Not knowing what she was doing, she reached out to touch some of them out of morbid curiosity. He did not flinch. She glanced back up at him again. He was still looking at her in silence. Finally, to her surprise, he spoke up again.

"You are brave. Many people would be terrified after being targeted."

She half-laughed, half snorted. "I put on a brave face." She glanced inside, making sure no one else was listening. One thing about Sergei never talking was that she somehow knew anything she said would stay between them.

He then did something that surprised her even more; his large hand came up, stroking her hair twice before resting his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Even he wasn't sure what came over him, but everything he had witnessed since being on this job sort of made him about as sympathetic as he could be to her situation. Between her father being most of her family contact, being forced away from her friends for lengths of time, being unable to even participate in a tournament, having to look over her shoulder more often this summer the odd time she did get to go out, and finally her father not even being there for the entire summer...she did not have much at the moment. She had all the money and physical possessions that she could want in about twelve lifetimes, but she was quite alone.

For some reason-the tiny human side that was left to him wanted to offer what no one really could at this moment, which was a small gesture of comfort.

She looked up, touching his hand lightly. "Thank you," she said, with a small smile.

He returned his usual smirk and nodded. He reached his hand over from her shoulder, cupping the side of her face with it. It was rougher against her skin than what she was used to-the guys who had done this before were your typical pampered rich boys-but it was pleasant. It felt better than what the others had felt like, in any case. She figured it was because out of anyone he could have chose to show this tiny side of himself to, it was her. She leaned into his hand.

She never did remember how long they stood there, but later on she would remember that may have been the first time that she didn't have anything to say.


	3. Chapter 3

Lili's attitude toward her situation had changed considerably over the past couple of weeks. Well, maybe not her entiresituation, but certainly toward Sergei. No longer did she see him as an obstacle to her summer, but as someone whom she actually started to care about. It was his job, yes-but still, she saw him in a different light.

Truth be told, Sergei was beginning to see this as more than just a job, as well...though he never said a word to anyone about it. They ran into each other much more often...almost on purpose it would seem. They also tended to step out to the same patio to have a drink at the end of a night. Not all the time-they would only do it without anyone else around, just in case someone might get the wrong idea, so to speak. Sergei-while he still did his duty to beyond his ability-found himself thinking that even if he was not here on business he may have been tempted to stay until her proper guards were back, to make sure that nothing else happened.

He had made good of his promise to teach her a few things. She actually impressed him in a way; the fact that she taught herself almost all of what she knew told him that she was good at picking things up and applying them practically. While she was definitely unrefined compared to many, she had a good grounding and just needed a few pushes in the right direction. She did not use brute force, but was very quick, graceful, and able to switch up her attacks in such a way that she was skilled at catching an opponent off guard.

It took her only a short while to adjust to disarming. He had no gun to use but one of the Rochefort's old antique pistols that was kept on display as he refused to wave a real one around in front of her, but he did have a plastic knife that he could use to lethal effect if necessary that he had with him for certain more covert operations. It would be sufficient for this as he had to actually use it in anger for it to do damage, which he didn't come close to doing in the training. She occasionally forgot she was using momentum and not power and would end up in a bad position afterward, but she stubbornly kept on. They had a session every other day or so in the training room. She would usually watch him afterward, telling herself it was actually just his technique that she was watching.

She never did find out what was with the attackers that night. She had spoken to Sebastian about it, and the guards and authorities asked her questions, but there was nothing. She decided not to mention how she snuck out beforehand.

I really hope that they didn't notice me or something while I was out, she thought.

Past excitement aside, today was set to be fairly dull. She had to first go over manor affairs with Sebastian...and then, acting in her father's stead, meet with some suits. She had to do this from time to time since she turned seventeen on the days her father was away-which was more and more as of late-and these days were so dull. It was all business stuff, and she would much rather been in the pool, or perhaps training how to disarm again, since she knew how important that was. She pushed the thought out of her head about the other reason she wished to perhaps train and began to get ready. Sergei would be there, probably guarding the door.

I hope it goes more quickly than the last time. Those old men went on for three hours.

Dressed in a fine outfit that was somewhere between 'business' and 'summer', she stepped into the room. Sergei was at the door, nodding to her. She could sense his gaze on her when she sat down, causing her to smile.

Heh, maybe this meeting won't be so bad.

–

It indeed went faster than usual-and soon after she happily found herself in the training room...being knocked pretty hard onto her back after a misstep.

She panted, standing up. Disarming people is harder than I thought.

Sergei smirked, holding the plastic knife. "You don't need to do it so hard. You're trying to disarm it with brute force. Against someone of your stature that is possible...but against someone much bigger and stronger...it does not work that way."

Did he just speak two complete sentences? Lili stretched, taking her stance again.

He actually continued. "You're using momentum against the attacker."

She nodded, and he took her through the motion again, though slowly. This time she did better; doing what he said, the knife was able to move easier. "It worked," she said, smiling.

Sergei nodded, the ghost of a smirk still on his lips. She guessed he used up his word quota for the moment. Possibly the entire day.

They went through it a few more times. Lili paid close attention; and he was right. So long as she used momentum instead of force, she could handle things much tougher than she thought. She was no stranger to training to fight, though her self-taught style basically mixed what she used in dancing classes with things that seemed like they would work in combat. And it was fairly effective. She felt perfectly safe and capable against thugs and even in tournaments-and was quite proud that little miss tomboy's actual 'real' style could be defeated by it. But when it came to heavily trained mercenaries with guns...well, even now she didn't feel completely safe though at least she had some ideas how to deal with a single attacker.

She wasn't sure how she would feel about turning an attacker's knife or gun against them...but she tried not to think about it. If it came down to it...she suspected she could do what was needed.

One of the maneuvers swung her around so he had her arm behind her back; she had messed up in her step. His head was quite close to her neck; she could feel his breath rather close to her ear. She shivered.

He stayed for a moment, telling himself he was just repositioning himself...despite the fact he was not moving. Lili made no attempt to leave. She didn't mind the fact she made a mistake, in fact.

They broke as quickly as it started, Lili chuckling and fixing her hair, acting as nonchalant as she could.

"Let's continue," she said. There was still a bit more to learn.

–

She stood with Sergei outside the kitchen as they usually did. There was no one around; it was later than usual, so most of the servants-save for one or two of the night ones who usually milled about the library-were in bed. She thought she would wind down with a small drink and then head upstairs. They were quiet, as always. Lili found herself a tiny bit less talkative-at times, anyway-these days. On the flip side, Sergei said an extra word or two now and again. She was amused they had somewhat managed to rub off on each other, albeit very slightly. No outsider to their relationship-or whatever you wanted to call it-would have even noticed.

Today's training session had been a bit intense. Not just in terms of work, but...they had ended up in positions a few times that made her stomach flutter just a tiny bit. She had no idea what happened here, but it almost seemed that as the days and weeks went by she found herself starting to kind of like Sergei. Well, more than 'kind of'. She wasn't sure in what way, but...she knew something was there.

He was staring at his drink with his arms folded on the railing. He had to lean over pretty far, given how tall he was compared to it. She looked him up and down again just as he glanced over to catch her. He smirked, setting his empty glass on the table and standing in front of her. Lili blinked.

"Yes?" she asked, wondering what was on his mind.

Sergei had his own thoughts, and they were starting to lean ever-so-slightly toward the more...forbidden ones. He had, over the past weeks, grown quite fond of her, but he was a little stuck on what to do. He had his job, his duty...but he also, underneath all of his cold exterior-and most of his interior, for that matter-had a small feeling that he wanted to perhaps try something to see where things stood.

He played it safe and stroked her cheek twice with the back of his hand, tilting her head up afterward to run his thumb gently over her lower lip. The tiny smirk appeared in the corner of his mouth as he turned to go inside, leaving her there.

What...was that about, she thought. She brought her hand up to where he touched her. It felt nice. What is going on?

She decided to finish her own drink and walk inside. She had a tiny, nagging thought that something was finally going to happen...and soon. Not wanting to make too much of it, she took her time getting back up to the second floor so she could go to her room tonight, though she wasn't sure if sleep was on the agenda right away. Not with her thoughts at the moment, anyway.

As she walked down the large hall to her room, she saw Sergei coming from the other way, seemingly checking the house. He did this often, particularly around this area, even after his drink at night. They had alarms and protection, of course-and the best money could buy-but Sergei was Sergei, and he still took his duty seriously, regardless of his feelings, especially after the incident.

At this point in time, he wondered if it was partially because of his feelings.

Her stomach fluttered again when she saw him. It did that often as of late. After his first month there, when killed the intruders-she started thinking of him more than a guard. A couple more weeks passed and she had started to think of him as almost a friend, though she didn't know if the feeling was mutual.

Now she was sure about the mutual part...and she wondered if there was more on top of that. Maybe it was the time spent physically close to each other. Maybe it was the way he started looking at her with more expression in his eyes, or smirked more easily around her, or maybe it was how he did not seem to mind physical contact with her and would even instigate it, like he recently did. There was even a part of her that quite liked the forbidden side as she tried to hide the training and their night drinks from everyone.

Today, when they sat there after their usual session, she randomly wondered what it would be like to kiss him. They were very close the entire time, and his breath began to make her shiver when it would touch her ear. After the session, she had found herself somewhat...aroused.

Sergei had been having a few similar feelings, though the biggest hint that Lili had was the way he touched her just now. He found himself looking at her more often, and she was truly beautiful. He thought she was pretty at first, but as time went on he began to see more about her; how she moved with grace and just the shape of her body; taken well care of with dancing and athletics. Her impeccable grooming habits kept her looking good all the time. She had much more to her as well; underneath the snobbish exterior of a somewhat spoiled rich girl hid someone whom would go far out of their way to help a loved one, even forgetting about their own safety in the process. He had almost none of that...though around her he certainly had something that simply did not exist around anyone else.

He had not been with a woman since he was around Lili's age. The girl was maybe sixteen herself, and they didn't last long. After that he married himself completely to his duty and she went on with her life somewhere else. It had been a teenage fling. He didn't even think about her. He had no feelings about her one way or another-it was just a thing in his past. If he needed release nowadays, he took care of it himself. He would sometimes look toward someone pretty, but in the end he simply did not care.

He wasn't sure what made him care in regards to Lili. Maybe it was the time spent with her. Maybe it was the training sessions. Maybe it was him actually getting a bit of sympathy for her situation. He sometimes forgot that he was still human, and this was one of those extraordinarily rare times that it came out.

She stopped next to him, looking up at him for a moment. "Hello," she said smiling.

Sergei stood in front of her, giving her the small smirk that he would usually greet her with these days. "Going to bed this early?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Just going to relax. Let me know if anyone attacks." She chuckled. She started to move past him...when he gently stopped her with his arm, pushing her back in front of him. She looked up at him, her subconscious knowing what might be happening, but her direct thoughts not believing it. Almost on reflex, her hand went up to touch his side; he did not have his Kevlar vest on this moment, only his tank top. Her hand ran up and down his side; she liked to touch him. She enjoyed his strength. Lili was a type-while she of course dated several times in the past-always knew deep down the fighter in her wanted a large and powerful man. Sergei was that, and then some. She had stopped being afraid of what he could do and started to respect-and even embrace it. She felt totally safe-finally-for the first time in a long while. Even though she liked to think she could do anything-and often put that face on-she knew she needed help with things from time to time.

Like people who wanted her family dead for its fortune.

She shook her head, letting her thoughts get away from her again and looked up. He picked his hand up, stroking her face twice. She touched his hand...and then started to lead him into her room, standing off to the side from the doorway. Just in case something might happen. Sergei shut the door behind them and turned to face her.

He tilted her head up before running his fingers over her lips for a moment; he finally leaned down to kiss her lightly a few times before standing back up. Lili began to pull him back down to return them; the kiss deepened. She opened her mouth; he answered by sliding his tongue in as he pulled her closer. After a few more moments it slowly broke; he kissed down her neck for a moment as she slid her leg up to his side, his hand sliding up her thigh and holding it there as they kissed again.

How did this even happen, she thought for a moment, enjoying the feel of the huge man against her. Their breathing grew heavier, and she knew if they didn't stop soon this could go...other places. Places where she wasn't sure she was ready for, but she knew the burning in the pit of her stomach and the sensation between her legs wanted to damn well try. It felt like they were moving extremely fast...but they had been spending time together-in some form-for weeks, so maybe it wasn't as fast as she thought.

Sergei cursed himself mentally. He was on a job, and he never did his duty less than what was required. He wondered how good of an idea this was. He broke off after a spell, locking eyes with her. If she wasn't so beautiful-not to mention he had started to genuinely enjoy her company which was more than what he could say about anyone else-this would have been easier to break off. But as his hand found her face again to trace down it, he thought that maybe he could allow himself this.

"We..." he trailed off.

Lili chuckled. "Not your duty?" She knew how seriously he took his work.

He nodded.

"You did what my father asked of you, right? With our enemies?"

Sergei looked down and smirked at her. He figured that so long as it stayed between them-and he did his duty to the fullest potential-that was all that mattered. She pulled him down into a kiss herself this time; and this lasted awhile as well. After they finally separated, he slid her shirt up and slowly began to run one of his hands over her stomach for a few moments. Something finally came over him; he went to his knees to begin to kiss it instead. He didn't know why he wanted to-maybe because he had felt the nicely toned dancer's muscle and smooth skin today in training and enjoyed how it felt. He didn't know why, and he didn't care.

Lili gasped at the sensation, running her hands through his thick hair. This felt wonderful; his lips against her cool skin-skin that was located a bit too close to...another area...started to make her sort of forget about wanting to sleep this night and seeing what else might happen. Is this moving fast? If it is maybe I don't need to slow down...

At that moment, they heard footsteps and voices around the halls. Something resembling a disappointed grunt-possibly a growl-came from Sergei's throat as he sighed against her stomach. Lili looked down, perhaps a bit disappointed.

"It might be best to cut this off now," she whispered, though not without a lot of regret. She had quite the nice feeling in the pit of her stomach-among other places-at this moment.

Sergei planted another kiss low on her stomach but nodded. He breathed in her scent; she had just showered and smelled it. He also, while his head was low, could tell that she was about as aroused as he was. If he didn't stand now, he wasn't sure what he would do. This was uncharacteristic of him; he still wasn't sure what came over him in those moments. He simply wanted to...do things with her, and her alone. Glancing up at her again, her disappointment was obvious, but he knew it was for the best. He stood, smoothing down her hair for a moment while he wanted for the footsteps to depart.

He realized then if he hadn't gotten up when he did, he may have indeed decided to play it extremely unsafe and do something completely unlike him, which would have been to start kissing something that he really shouldn't have been, as he was mere inches from it and the only thing in the way were her shorts.

He stroked her face for a moment. "I should go, while the hallway is empty."

Lili nodded, shifting. She was very disappointed...but such was life.

She was also extremely uncomfortable in her nether regions. I may have to do something about this myself tonight.

Sergei bent down to kiss her again, and lingered for a moment, before turning to leave, this time not looking behind him. It was for the best.

Where is this going? She thought. She sighed and started to consider taking another shower. Preferably cold.

She heard it worked in the movies, anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

A week or so had passed since the 'incident', as Lili liked to think of it. She would have so wanted it to continue, but the two of them decided to play it safe for some days and treat things like business as usual, in case someone had seen him leave her room that night. It would not have been weird to have him there; he would do checks of the rooms after all as normal, and he had gone there many times to make sure things were okay...but if they had seen the position they had been in-or the fact Lili was slightly disheveled looking which she never was-it could have raised questions. Questions that she did not really want to have to answer.

She had a hell of a time sleeping that night. She had been so turned on that even an attempt to relieve herself really didn't work. It half-did, but all it made her want was to be with him again. What is happening to me?. When he first got here I thought he was some creepy guy who had to guard me.

But then she had gotten to somewhat know him more. While she did not know too much about him besides his direct and more recent background, it was enough. That night where he disposed of the mercenaries was probably the biggest turning point.

After that, while he still did not speak much nor change much in his personality...he had become more personable toward her. When the servants or Sebastian were not around, they had spent a bit of time together in between some training. It then got fairly heavy again recently, so they decided to try to allow it to cool down...but it was no use. She knew she wanted to do more with him. They would share a moment now and then, but it wasn't enough. There was a very strong physical attraction forming, and it did not seem to show any signs of stopping.

In the later evening, Sergei had told her that he was going to go to his room for awhile. He went upstairs before he even had the usual nightly drink. Lili, being perceptive when she wanted to be, figured that he may have been either hinting something or trying to sort of resist by removing himself from her presence.

She first went to her own room, trying to perhaps calm down and get her mind off of things. She undressed, putting on just a pair of shorts and a tank top-it had been hot today, she told herself-even though the mansion had excellent air conditioning. She first put on her entertainment system to see if there was maybe a movie on one of the premium channels she could distract herself with, but she couldn't really even pay attention to the menu. She found a book instead, but that didn't work. Even messing about on social media was not helping.

She sighed...but then stood. She thought maybe, just maybe...if she went next door and knocked and he was not there, she could then carry on with her night.

Quietly leaving her room and making sure the long hallway was empty-it was, which was usual as it was only her room, her study, a large bathroom and the guest room here-she shut her door and knocked on the one next to her softly.

She started to leave after only a few short moments, perhaps having second thoughts...when it opened. Sergei poked his head out for just a moment before silently opening the door enough for her to enter and then closed it behind him.

She leaned by the wall near the door, reaching a hand out to run it down his side. He leaned in to kiss her, his hand under her chin. She missed how that felt, as they had been trying not to for the past few days. She looked at him afterward.

"Mind if I stay here awhile?" She smiled up at him.

Sergei smirked down, leaning over to kiss up her jaw over to her mouth again for a moment. He nodded.

"As long as you want," he replied.

She walked over to check the room out. She knew the room well; it was one of their many guest rooms. Just as huge as most of the other bedrooms, it was fully furnished, though the closets and dressers were kept empty. He kept the room neat; his dress outfits were hanging up, and she didn't know where he kept his other things. On the nightstand were a few books. On the bigger work table-where the computer was kept-was his sidearm and combat knife. She turned back around to face him.

"At least you're here for a longer time than planned." Two months ago she would have been disappointed about this fact.

He simply nodded, walking back over to the bed to sit on the edge, looking out the window. She walked next to him as he sat there to stroke his thick hair. It was ever so slightly damp, letting her know he had recently showered. She liked his hair; she preferred longer hair over short and his was very nice. He turned his head-being very close to her chest-and she had not even bothered with a bra; he kissed the exposed skin for a moment before shifting where he sat. He was just about at his limit. He breathed in her scent; like always, she smelled good.

Lili traced her fingers over his lower lip for a moment before she walked over to stand by the wall near the window. Sergei followed, going over to pull the blinds down. The lights in the room were dim, but she could see perfectly. She felt like she was going right into a very forbidden place now...but she was quite happy. After the events about a week ago...she wanted more, she knew that for sure. They had passed each other, they had talked from time to time...but she tried to push him out of her mind. She could not, and when they ended up kissing even more when they had the chance-usually before she went to sleep-it only made forgetting about it harder.

She didn't know what they would do, nor did she much care. She wasn't too experienced...he had more in that area, but not since he was her age practically. She didn't much care; she was sure that instinct would be sufficient for both of them.

Sergei came over next to her to push her closer to the wall, bringing his hands up to her shoulders, quite pleased at the small amount of clothing she chose. He only had on one of his sets of fatigue trousers-Sergei either wore military style clothing or training clothing it seemed. She never saw him in anything else. She wondered what he slept in.

A large hand stroked her side, moving to her stomach and over a breast. He smirked at her, raising an eyebrow as he felt her rather stiff nipple. She was already quite aroused, and to be honest, had been since she came over to the room since she sort of had an idea of what was going to happen.

He was just a guard at first. He's become more. How much more, I don't know.

She went to kiss him again; she loved how he kissed her. Slowly, slightly rough, and he liked to use his tongue-all things that appealed to her. She returned it, her own tongue sliding into his mouth, as he pushed a bit closer to her and leaned down more; he was quite a bit taller than her, after all. The kiss broke as he dragged his tongue down her neck and to her shoulder where he could lick and bite at the sensitive skin.

He simply ran purely on instinct these days, but it seemed to be enough as she moaned quietly and smiled at him, her hand running through his hair. He kissed her chest for a moment before standing again to simply slide the tank top off. He found that even though Lili wasn't terribly experienced, everything she did was pleasing to him as well.

She shivered; feeling a bit vulnerable, but his touch at her sides made her relax. She looked up at him a moment. "You know I've never..."

He nodded. If she told him to stop, he would.

Lili smiled, pulling him down into a kiss again. He knelt for a moment to kiss her stomach several times before moving upward to her breasts. She shuddered at his touch; she had grown very fond of it. The feeling was mutual; Sergei was perfectly content in the past with as little physical contact as possible that was not combat related. He had changed his tune somewhat...but only in regards to Lili.

He took a stiff nipple into his mouth for some moments; gently sucking it and running his tongue slowly around it. She gasped at the feeling while she stroked his hair and a shoulder, her head falling back. He worked for awhile at one before sliding over to the other one to do the same; she gasped louder when she felt him nip at it. She liked how he used his mouth on her. She was amused that for someone who didn't really like to talk, he was quite good at figuring out other things to do with it.

Her breathing grew heavier as he slid down to kiss her stomach more. He knew what he wanted now, and glanced up at her to see what she did. She smiled at him, her eyes narrow, as she ran a finger down his face. She seemed to be giving him free rein at the moment to do what he wished.

He moved to slide both her shorts and underwear off, leaving her naked by the wall, raising his eyebrow and smirking again. She knew exactly what that meant-he was loving what he was seeing. His hand stroked her cleanly-shaven midsection, and she had to put one of her own up to her mouth when he leaned down to give it a single, lingering kiss. He started to stand back up when she decided she could not take anymore of his teasing and wanted to see if she could coax him to do more. She lifted one of her legs up to rest it on him.

Sergei was indeed about to tease her stomach again when she did this; taking one look at his new...view, and at how wet he had made her, made him almost unable to resist. Well, he could have resisted, but could and wanted to were two completelydifferent things. He pushed her leg a bit more out of the way and finally gave her the kiss he wanted to the week before; Lili bit her lip and sucked in her breath at the sensation, leaning back against the wall as he pushed closer to give her long licks right up and down her, again and again, immediately enjoying what he tasted and deciding right then that he would not be leaving for awhile. If she said nothing about him moving, he would go as long as she could handle it. His breathing grew a bit heavier as he slowly snaked his tongue around, taking some time to get to know her most intimate place and things she perhaps enjoyed.

Sergei wasn't devoid of allowing himself little pleasures outside of combat, but this mostly consisted of expensive vodka, a nice cigar, or singing. Pleasures of this nature he simply didn't care about...until just recently.

She hoped that would indeed keep at this for a nice long while, because this was one of the most incredible things she had ever felt in her life.

He was surprised how easy it was to coax him to do something that he didn't much care for in the past on account of him thinking it a waste of time, but he supposed he hadn't met someone like Lili whom he actually cared about enough to enjoy being with her. He met her gaze for a few moments as he licked, going slowly so he would not set her off right away. She smiled weakly at him, shuddering in his grasp as he held onto her hips. For a few moments he brought a hand down to run his fingers over her center-which she moaned lightly at the feeling of as well-but then slid his tongue back inside of her and pulled her close. It was more enjoyable to use his mouth he found, as he moaned deep in his own throat.

Lili tried to keep her moans quiet-while the mansion had excellent soundproofing, it never hurt to be careful. This would be frowned upon in many, many ways by everyone else there, but that aspect also made what they were doing that much more exciting. She would occasionally glance at him; one of the thoughts that came and went was that he looked like he was getting just as turned on by everything. She yelped and bit her lip, clawing at the wall with her hand when she felt him begin to tease her clit with his tongue, rubbing it against it, sucking on it a few moments before sliding his tongue down and inside of her.

She let out a low and shivering moan, and her left leg-which was all she was standing on-was beginning to shake. She tapped his head a moment. He looked up, though he did not stop licking her. The sight of his tongue occasionally was possibly one of the hotter things she had ever seen, since she knew exactly where it was and what it was doing. She smiled weakly, pointing to the floor.

"I think I need...to...lay down..."she managed to say before moaning again as he sucked her clit for a moment longer. He slowly pulled away for just a short time as she lay down on the floor next to the bed, grabbing one of the pillows on the way down as he re-positioned himself. He used this time to free himself from his trousers, as he was extraordinarily hard and it was getting a bit uncomfortable. This was much better; while he could stay in a multitude of odd positions for a long time thanks to his training, being bent over like that with something else going on in his trousers was not exactly easy.

The pillow was more for muffling her louder moans than for her head. She was perfectly fine laying back on the thick carpet that covered the floor of all of the bedrooms. She put it to her mouth just in time as she felt him slide his tongue inside her again; she wrapped her long legs around him as he pulled away long enough to tease her clit some more before delving back in.

The sensation was like nothing she had ever felt, and it was wonderful. She simply allowed the waves of pleasure to take her over; sometimes closing her eyes, other times watching him. Between his mouth and her own fluids, her nether regions were soaked; she sort of began to fear for the carpet after tonight when her thoughts were interrupted by more of his actions. She wanted to come, but she didn't really want him to stop afterward, either.

Sergei kept experimenting to find things she liked, when she would moan or yelp particularly loud into the pillow he knew he found something. He loved her taste, the way she was writhing on the floor, and the fact that no other man had ever touched her like this. Sitting back slightly, he finally he wanted to taste more of her and decided to quickly flick his tongue against her clit to see if that would drive her over the edge.

It did-she felt the orgasm hit and didn't bother holding it back; she pressed the pillow as tightly as she could to her face and bit down, hoping she was not too loud. She heard the sound of him drinking her in-which was somehow still arousing to her. The entire affair, she thought in somewhat fragmented bits, was rather messy and something that she never really could have imagined herself going into like this-but she loved every second.

When it passed, she took the pillow away from her mouth, panting. He sat up slightly, licking his lips; his mouth and chin were quite wet from his work. She could see his rather large member outside of his trousers, and he looked like he had been aroused for awhile. He shifted it around, looking back down toward her soaked midsection, dipping low to kiss it some more. She yelped when he reached her clit as she was incredibly sensitive there now-almost painfully so-when he saw her reaction he moved his tongue down to slide inside of her instead. This felt wonderful, and she guessed that she would be less sensitive soon enough. Or she hoped. She kind of wanted him to keep going.

Neither of them knew how long things went on. Sergei realized that he wanted to do this since it was probably one of the most intimate things one could do; far more than just sticking it in, thrusting a few times, and letting go. He experimented more, listening to her soft moans, kind of pleased she seemed to not care how long he was there for. He would, eventually, have to release himself somehow however. He had excellent-more like amazing-self control, but even he had his limits, and after spending that much time down on Lili something was going to have to give.

After a short amount of time, Lili was curious to actually see more-when she was standing by the wall before, occasionally catching a glance of what he was doing, she found herself enjoying the scene. She started to maneuver herself so she sat by the wall, Sergei taking some time to reposition himself after sparing her his usual tiny smirk. She found the sensation building up again as she felt him get a little heavier; licking her up and down. One hand was still tangled in his hair as she stroked it, glancing down again to see his actions.

She didn't know what he did, but he began to get a bit rougher in his ministrations-and this began to drive her a bit mad again, though there was nothing at all unpleasant about it. Both of her hands found his hair this time to hold him there; she heard him moan low as he thrust his tongue deep inside of her again and again, finding her clit again with his lips. She almost screamed; it was no longer painful, but it seemed after the first orgasm it was even more sensitive now.

She was, for a moment, more thankful than anything that the female was built to be able have multiple orgasms.

Putting her hands over her mouth she shuddered visibly and let go again with a very loud moan; her hands helped this at least, but she could physically feel herself actually wetter this time, despite all of the stuff that had gone on. She knew the carpet beneath her would be getting some of it this time. The incredible feeling finally passed, as she caught her breath, her midsection with a wonderfully pleasant ache in it. She was at the almost painful sensitivity again, so she notice Sergei-seemingly a little regretful-pulling away for now.

He sat up, kneeling in front of her, shifting his member around again. She was looking at it, wanting to try a few of her own things...as soon as she recovered, anyway. She looked up at him as he licked his lips again, and she had to chuckle at that, her lids heavy.

"I never thought you would care about something like this." she said, somewhat amused. She thought he was inexperienced. She had never felt this before, to be sure, but she had a couple of friends claim before they had been with men who had no idea.

Sergei just shrugged. It had been easy enough. It was physical human pleasure and it didn't take a genius to figure out what worked.

Lili smiled again. It had been a great release, especially after the week she had. Nothing had ever felt so good. Experienced or not, he figured out things she liked, and would maybe know more of what she liked for the next time that she hoped would happen.

He shifted his position. She looked down, suddenly wanting to return the favor. She leaned forward, pushing him backward so he was sitting against the bed, as she undid his trousers all the way to let him loose. She noticed he was not wearing underwear and giggled.

Looks like I wasn't the only one going into this with something on my mind tonight.

She said nothing though, wrapping a slim hand around him and slowly beginning to stroke. She looked up at him, smiling a moment as she kissed down his stomach, her free hand running down his side before it joined the other one, only going low underneath of him.

She heard him moan quietly, low in this throat, and then begin to stroke her hair. He did not expect this; but it was a pleasant surprise. She repositioned herself to kiss him a few times-right on the head-before taking his length into her mouth slowly. She could handle him quite well; he was nicely sized for someone his height. She took him deeper, beginning to suck lightly at him, before trying experimental things herself.

Sergei leaned his head back against the bed and enjoyed the feeling; his eyes were closed most of the time, but he would occasionally look down to see her work-it was rather arousing for him to watch her just as it was for her to do the same. He ran his hand down her back, over her rear, and back up again. She controlled her speed well; she sped up occasionally, sucking him deeper, but she would then slow down and tease him underneath with her fingers and tongue.

She was inexperienced here too, but she just let instinct guide her as she had planned. His reactions-and she figured just the fact he was reacting meant he was greatly enjoying this-told her she was going on the right path. Her actions were starting to arouse her again, to be honest; she liked hearing him pleased and she was kind of starting to have fun getting reactions out of the usually extremely stoic man. He was not loud or overly vocal-but his soft moans were enough to tell her that he was enjoying what she was doing very much.

She began to tease the head more with quick flicks of her tongue; his huge hand stroked the back of her head as she took him deep again. She shifted around, beginning to wonder if she might want to do a little more again soon.

It didn't take much longer-he had been so aroused at the night's actions that she felt him begin to shake her, trying to let her know that he was about to come. She stayed, though, sucking faster and faster until she felt him tense and moan slightly louder than he had been; the slight taste of salty liquid that she had been experiencing most of the time she had been pleasuring him turned into...much more than that. She kept up though...swallowing when she was finished and finally sitting up and back against the wall and smiling at him.

He looked over at her as he caught his own breath, a bit surprised at her actions. He smirked again, having fully enjoyed what she did. The relief he felt was immense; he was unable to really help himself this time, even though he tried during the week. He sat back to relax for a few moments, before glancing over at her.

He saw how she shifted around a bit...so he crawled forward and began to kiss at her thighs again, letting her know he was willing to give her a little more if she wanted. She smiled wickedly and slid her leg off to the side, giving him access. A soft moan escaped her again as she felt his tongue sliding around one more time; the evening had left her so sensitive that she did not take long. The incredible feeling in her midsection came back and ran over once again. She was trembling at this point, though happy.

She watched as he licked her clean from the night's pleasure and sat back against the bed. He looked over at her as she sat against the wall and the smirk he would usually get finally turned into a small smile instead. He chuckled once, still silent. Lili smiled back...quite pleased that she finally got more than the little smirk out of him. She was also incredibly satisfied. He wasn't in any shape to continue until he...recharged, so to speak...but to be honest she was a bit tired at this point. He had certainly enjoyed himself by the look. Lili shifted, hoping the carpet beneath her would dry fairly quickly.

She moved forward-a bit afraid to try to stand up due to how wobbly her legs probably were by now, to give him a small kiss. "Thank you," she said. Why...the hell did I thank him? I don't think one is supposed to do that after this. She felt immensely stupid, but all he did was touch her face and nod.

Maybe I got lucky with this one? she thought, before deciding that she kind of needed a shower.

–

After they had both cleaned up from the night's mutual pleasure, she put on her shirt, but left her underwear off. She sort of didn't want to go back to her room yet.

Sergei, to her surprise, spoke up first. "What time do the servants usually wake?"

"Around six. The same time you do."

He nodded.

Lili smiled, realizing what he was asking. "I'll stay here."

He had thrown on his trousers again and went to peek out the window. Hearing this, he smirked at her answer.

"Why..." she started. The curiosity was too much for her.

Sergei walked over to her, placing his hand on the side of her face again, much like he did that first night. It practically answered her question for her.

–

Lili woke around five in the morning, with Sergei already awake next to her. They had fallen asleep on the bed, though without covers. She figured he would have been awake first. She also knew the servants would be waking soon.

Sergei looked over when she started to move, running his large hand down her side. He seemed to go back to his usual silent self, though this time Lili noticed it was a very comfortable and natural silence.

She didn't want to leave, but she knew she'd have to. She leaned in to kiss him-which he returned, deepening it. She slid off the bed to grab her shorts. As she stood next to the bed, Sergei debated snatching her leg to hold her there a few moments, but regretfully decided it might not be the best idea.

She slid her shorts on and gave him a small smile.

"I'll see you around today," she said, before leaning closer. "Maybe I'll visit again tonight".

Sergei just smiled back, raising his eyebrow once and touching her face lightly.

Hm, I think maybe I like not being on vacation right now. In fact, I think the rest of this summer won't be a waste after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Tyranny & Grace Fenris30

Summary:

* * *

Part 2 of Reticent Watcher.

Lili, eighteen and in university now is off for a semester in the autumn, doing a sort of 'internship', which is more or less going to do some of her father's duties with the business, being stationed in Berlin in a fancy high-rise. It's fairly boring work. As usual, trouble arises and her father-scared for her safety much to her chagrin-wants to get her some sort of guard. The past two had been boring and she wondered about their competence...but it turns out that the one he found just happened to be a special one from about eight months back. Who was much more than she had ever hoped...

Notes:

* * *

Alright, for a timeline(I have these all explained in my profile), this one is about...8-9 months or so after 'Reticent Watcher'. Being in that 'series', it's a bit more of a medium-toned story(not really dark) with moments of ups and some more serious stuff. I like to disclaim these in case someone just wants a more light PWP(where you might go for the Afterparty series, though that even has some plot.)

In the Tekken timeline, it's sort of where I picture 'end of 6, pre or right before 7'-Lili is probably close to nineteen and Sergei almost thirty, if ages matter.

In any case you all know what you're getting from me in most of these fics, especially if you read the tags at the top.

* * *

Chapter 1: A Nice Turn of Events

I wonder if I should have picked a different major...though I suppose being a CEO will have its benefits in the end.

Lili Rochefort had been learning the ins and outs of the corporate business lifestyle quite intensively these past months. Her father-who owned Rochefort Enterprises-was of course grooming her to take over the company. It would basically mean a lifetime of prestige, money to buy an island if she wanted to-well, they could already, but still-and all for not even needing to exert herself too much. It meant all of that for sitting in on meetings, telling other people to sit in on meetings, and going to fine dinners to drink bottles of wine worth more than some people's cars.

On the other hand it was also learning by doing-which meant sitting in on exceedingly boring meetings, a bunch of paperwork, public appearances with people whom she didn't care about, and the inability to barely get to practice the fighting that she so loved to do on her spare time. The corporate lifestyle seemed to involve meetings, paperwork, and telling people what to do. The last part was sort of fun, at least.

But this would be her life and she loved living in luxury, so she was perfectly okay with it. She could find time to train in any case, and even sneak off to tournaments after putting someone else in her seat while she was gone.

Her classes were on hiatus; she went during the summer, and decided to take the fall off to go on a sort of internship, though with her own company. She would be spending several weeks in Berlin, in an extraordinarily lavish flat-three floors of a high-rise that her father owned-and going through various duties. She would have aforementioned meetings, she would be looking over family assets-but she also looked forward to being alone. She was eighteen now, almost nineteen, and starting to enjoy her time away from the manor more, so long as she was still staying in luxury.

She was also sure that being away from her family would allow more freedom to find some nice tournaments or even street fights to take part in on the side. She was tired of training on her own and she hadn't had a training partner in months.

Sebastian would be back at the manor, though he and her father would be visiting every so often. She had some butlers and maids on hand, who would also be staying at the high-rise, though on other floors. Lili was very much looking forward to having a large place to herself. She didn't mind taking care of herself in some ways. She enjoyed making her own coffee or tea in the morning, the odd snack, and choosing outfits; her servants would bring her meals room-service style. Cleaning was something best left to the servants. Laundry as well. Anything of that nature.

She was still a bit spoiled, after all, and fairly shameless about it, though she always treated her household with kindness. Lili was good at balancing the two-in regards to her household and family acquaintances anyway-due to her father's more gentle way of bringing her up.

Today's agenda was one early meeting, a brunch with a few of her father's colleagues, another meeting, and then a later lunch.

It was getting a bit tiresome. She hadn't had a good scrap in a long time, and she sort of just wanted to have a few days to do what she wanted to. She went to a few nice bars and restaurants, but it still was a bit boring. She had met a few acquaintances, and some of her friends from Monaco had visited, but many of them were in classes at this point.

She sort of liked being in high school. She also more than sort of missed the previous summer, but she tried not to think about that.

Keeping that far from her mind she thought was one of the healthiest things, or else she thought she would begin to pine for something that she could never have.

–

The final meeting of the day done, she had decided to unwind with a glass of wine in the most expensive restaurant in the city; she sat alone at the corner table, wishing not to be bothered. The wine was a medium-dry red; quite pleasant all told.

She saw her chauffeur walking up to the table; she stood, curious onto what this was about. Often, he did not bother her when she was relaxing. Something had to be up.

"Yes?" she asked.

"My lady. Can we speak in private? This information is...possibly sensitive."

Lili blinked. She nodded. "This place does have private rooms, yes." Most fancy places did, as sometimes people did not want to be disturbed or were having private meetings of their own.

They went to one, Lili paying the fee easily; they were not free and usually had to be reserved, but there wasn't much the Rocheforts could not do when money was involved.

"Your father had been alerted to possible issues. With..."

Lili nodded. He didn't need to finish. "What does he want? Does he want me to come home?" While sometimes she did want to get back, she was sort of looking forward to being off on her own for some time.

He shook his head. "He has arranged extra protection for you. We shall be picking them up on our way back this evening."

Lili sighed, looking clearly annoyed. He still doesn't trust me. Can't he let me fend for myself? She knew he cared, she knew he meant well, but it got so frustrating.

Then she thought back to the men with the large guns that night, who may have killed her if he hadn't been there. She sighed again, getting even more annoyed that she probably couldn't deal with them totally on her own, even though she did accumulate some knowledge in how to deal with armed opponents. She knew there was nothing to be done; she would have to accept this, though she certainly didn't have to like it.

"Fine," she said, her tone still annoyed. "Let me finish my wine."

Her chauffeur-an older, elegant man who seemed sympathetic to her situation-bowed and took his leave. She let out a laugh that was half snort; her household did consist of people who did care for her like family. Sebastian, her longtime butler, family friend, and practically a grandfather to her. Alain, her chauffeur, whom always treated her with kindness and lent a sympathetic ear after her kidnapping. Marie, the head maid, whom had functioned as her mother when she had female matters to discuss that had confused her years ago.

She decided, after finishing the glass, to get this over with. She noticed the rain and pulled her cape on; it was hot, but she would rather not get wet. She sent a message to Alain to come around the front to pick her up. She pulled her light cape around her shoulders so her outfit didn't get wet-she had chosen a more business-oriented style; fine and attractive, though with accents that were a little more on the laid-back side, like sportier boots and shorter sleeves.

Let's get this over with.

The rain was warm, but it was still heavy. Lili stared out the window, waiting to pick up the bodyguard that her father and Sebastian insisted on. I don't know why I'm so bothered. There was that time last year...

But, she had a couple of guards since then...and they were boring, typical, and she sometimes felt she could have given them a run for their money anyway. She was a little grumpy, but she would get over it, like she always had.

The driver pulled aside the hotel, got out, and opened the door. Lili noticed a hulking figure begin to step in.

A very familiar, hulking figure. A figure she knew well...in more ways than one. Many, many more ways. Her stomach twisted, turned, and felt like it was going to fall out. She tried to hold back the small lump in her throat, since she remembered the farewell.

It was indeed-after nearly a year-Sergei.

Her knees nearly went to water, even as she sat and stared over at him to examine his body again. He had a few new scars, but that was expected given his line of work. He looked at her; his expression barely changed, though his eyebrow raised and a tiny smirk appeared on the corner of his mouth, just for a moment. He reached back and took his hair down to shake it out; it was a touch wet from the rain. She forgot how good he looked with his hair down as well, even if it was slightly disheveled. She had seen it worse when she had run her hands through it when...

She shook her head, looking over at him again. He had trouble adjusting to the small seat in the back, which she found sort of amusing. His legs were extremely long and had trouble anywhere that a normal person would just about fit. He wore a long dark green rain jacket along with his heavy fatigue pants-with their usual pockets and buckles, though he had no weapons on them. He carefully tried to avoid getting mud on Lili from his gigantic combat boots as he shifted since their legs were quite close. He wore the biggest boots she had ever seen; the side of her with the morbid fascination about his abilities-that darker side that she even kept hidden from herself, that remembered when he killed the men in the yard-sort of wondered how many times he had to clean blood from them this past year.

He seemed to be wearing a tank top under all of this; it was fairly warm out after all. Lili always liked when he wore them, as she could see the contour of his chest and stomach rather nicely.

Sergei was a very large man, and she always remembered how she felt next to him; Lili was a tall young lady, and always confident. Next to him however she felt somehow simultaneously more vulnerable-but also more powerful; and not necessarily because he would kill anyone who looked at her sideways. He had always supported her in her ventures to get better in her own fighting, and while she didn't need his approval-Sergei knew this and liked this aspect of her as there were too many people who desperately sought approval as a habit-it was the fact that he never gave praise so much as looked at her with a fierce sort of pride in his eyes when she showed her skill.

She shook her head, finally trying to hold back tears. She felt stupid for wanting to cry, but during those last eight or so weeks that Sergei had been there, they had done so much. They grew close. It wasn't only sexual, though there was plenty of that-she had stolen into his room three or four times a week for the night. She would have gone every night, but they decided to play it safe. They had gotten to know each others bodies exceedingly well...and they got to know each other fairly well, too, as guarded as Sergei could be. It wasn't much, but compared to about anyone else who knew him...Lili knew him best.

She rubbed her eyes, staring out the window. She hoped he would understand.

Sergei looked her up and down again; at her outfit, her hair, and the skin that he liked touching so much back when he was at the manor. The skirt that she wore was of middling length; long enough to be somewhat modest due to her work, but short enough to show off the body she was proud of. He could see just enough of her legs-toned with the dancer's muscle that he liked a lot-that the smirk slowly appeared again in the corner of his mouth. Sergei had managed to push her out of his mind most of the time. When he was on active duty, it was fairly easy, but when he was alone and sipping whatever alcohol he would enjoy at the end of the night, his thoughts would trail back to her now and again. It was very sporadic, but it would happen.

When he had heard that Mr. Rochefort was looking for a bodyguard again, he had spoken to his superiors; since he could perform missions as well while doing this-he would not be staying at the manor this time but at the Berlin high-rise-he gladly took it on. He could perform his duties-which was crushing the Zaibatsu if they got in his way, as they still had not shown any signs of faltering-and in addition, he could get to spend some time with Lili again.

They were not a couple. They knew they could never be a couple. Sergei's life would never allow it, even if he would think of himself the type, which he didn't. Lili's father would probably pale and collapse at the notion of the huge killing machine being part of his family. One could perhaps call what they had a sort of affair, though one with fairly heavy feelings behind it...even if they mostly stayed unspoken. There was no real name for what they had.

But he had the chance, and he took it; Lili Rochefort was the one person he allowed himself to care for. Even if it wasn't traditional-Sergei could not do anything regarding matters of emotion in a traditional manner-he did it in his own way. Physically he accepted how he felt. He had gotten to know her body very well back at the manor. Lili for him was the perfect size; fairly tall and well toned from her regular exercise and training, though still fairly slight compared to him. He had to try not to think about that too much right now, or how it felt to have those legs wrap around him...or else Alain and whatever servants would be there might get a very odd opinion if they accidentally glanced toward his trousers.

He was technically on duty, but as his duty was to keep watch over Lili...he figured he was doing exactly that.

The ride took about a half hour; they were in silence the entire time. Lili would occasionally look over, catching his glance. It was strange; even after this long, they were calm. While Lili felt fairly emotional at the moment, she was composed. She knew what they had. It was not what others had, but it was enough for them.

When they arrived, Alain opened the door and the two stepped out, Sergei stretching as he had been a bit cramped in the back. It was not one of the roomier limos, though it was large. Lili started to head inside, telling the servants to have a few things ready for her as she saw Sergei going over a few things with Alain; the old chauffeur looked obviously uncomfortable.

Sergei Dragunov could cause discomfort in even the hardest people by just looking at them. It was a quality that Lili quite liked, given her attraction to danger.

She stepped toward the private elevator that took people to the more ritzy areas of the building; it was to ensure privacy and security. Sergei followed her in, but no one else came. It was all she could do to hold back. She wanted to touch him again, to kiss him...to do much more with him, but she would have to wait.

Sergei had a giant four room flat-supplied by Mr. Rochefort-near the top floor. He stepped off the elevator and turned around, giving her a single nod...and a tiny smirk, which he had often given her at the manor. He turned back toward the hall as the door closed.

Lili smiled; if one were to see her, she would have a very pleased look on her face...with perhaps a bit of a wicked gleam in her eye.

This entire thing could not have worked out better.


	6. Chapter 6

Lili milled about the top floor of her 'flat'. Well, it was probably the equivalent of a small mansion. It basically took up the top three floors of the high-rise; this floor had the master bedroom, a kitchen, and a few entertainment areas as well as a large bathroom. She had gotten changed; she kept her shorter black skirt on, though opted for a half-cut tank top; it was a bit warmer than normal today despite the pouring rain. She milled about the kitchen, drinking a latte made from the most expensive stuff she could get here-of course-and decided to go look out one of the windows over the city.

She had a feeling the inevitable knock could come soon, as she knew Sergei would wait to ensure that the coast was clear.

She finally heard the knock as she sat reading; she went to the door to peek out. Sergei was there, having dropped off his long rain jacket and his personal belongings. She opened the door to let him in so she could look up and down his body again as he stood there at his full height. His hair was still down. It was pushed back, still slightly damp.

"You volunteered, didn't you?" she asked, standing there with her arms folded. She did not want to look too needy.

He nodded. "I heard the request. Your father was happy with the job I did before."

Lili almost burst out laughing. Oh, he did a good job alright. If only he knew...After composing herself again, she walked over to look up at him, her arms still folded. She was happy to hear his voice again. She liked his deep, fairly soft tone.

"You couldn't have maybe at least tried to send me a message?"

"My duties came first."

She snorted, pouting slightly. "Am I not important enough?" Lili was not completely serious here, but she knew Sergei could tell.

Sergei silently just walked over before reaching his huge hand up to her face to stroke her cheek. She sighed; she realized now just how much she missed his touch. His touch was not like the other guys she had dated. A couple of her friends had tried to get her on dates the past year, but they never amounted to anything; nothing more than a peck on the cheek and she felt the guys terribly boring. Good hearted, but boring. Sergei's hands were obviously battled hardened; a bit on the rough side though well taken care of, as military men did keep their appearance sharp. His touch was surprisingly light when he wanted it to be, which was only to her. She could see scars on it, no doubt from people who maybe tried to get him off of them before he killed them.

Lili's resolve weakened as she touched his chest and stomach again through the tight fabric of his gray tank top. He was brutally strong; far more than any other man she had met. She had no idea how he got as strong as he was. She knew the damage he could do. She didn't know if the Russian military fed them some sort of G-corporation concoctions or if he was just a freak of nature. She didn't care either way, she just knew she loved it. Lili was not particularly a submissive type-she definitely leaned more toward the bold side, and while some people who had more dominant personalities preferred types who were the opposite, she always felt like she wanted someone strong.

Sergei himself never really had a 'type'-as he had been in all of one relationship as a teenager that lasted for about two months and even then it was nothing much-but he knew that he liked how Lili 'postured' back at him, so to speak. Strong and capable...while at the same time showing she could be vulnerable now and again.

Lili was finally unable to help herself; she put a hand on the back of his head-missing the feel of the thick hair that fell to his chin-and pulled him into a kiss, which after a few moments deepened on both sides to incredible levels. Sergei's tongue slid into her mouth slowly, getting re-acquainted with the body that he realized he missed after all this time. He picked Lili up as her legs slid around his waist, giving him a squeeze which made him moan deep in his chest. He loved when she did that.

During his absence, Lili had tried to forget how much she liked kissing him. The first one broke after some time as Sergei stood there, holding her effortlessly. His lips traced down her chin and neck slowly, dragging his tongue along her skin again, loving how it felt. His hand slipped around to her thigh to massage it; Lili moaned as she felt his hand slide up and down it, his fingers tracing over the skin as he raised his head to press his forehead to hers...which for her, meant the world. This was not something one did without some sort of emotion, and it was certainly not something Sergei ever did, or would ever do, with anyone else.

She gasped in pleasure as he felt his hand go around to her rear, holding it for a moment as he slid it up to begin to remove her underwear. She released her legs just long enough to get them off before going back into her position; she sort of liked it up here. She also chuckled when she felt the front of his trousers; this was a foregone conclusion. It had been almost a year; Sergei had been trying to compose himself since the limo.

His hand tracing around to her rear again caused her to suck in her breath; he walked against the wall to put his back by it. He then traced that same hand over her rear and toward her front as she felt his finger begin to tease her, parting her and gently stroking for a few moments before it slid in, slowly, though very deep. She pressed her own head to his to kiss him as she let his finger work.

He smirked after the kiss broke, pleased with how wet she felt. He was trying to hold back; he wanted to try to extend things, despite wanting to release and release hard. His physical want for her was steadily growing by the second, but so were his actual feelings; after being away so long, he genuinely missed her. As he slid his finger in and out, kissing down her neck while he carried her over to the large sofa, he remembered their first time going all the way. It had been about a week after their first encounter; she had returned to his room a few times and they continued to get to know each other very, very nicely in that time. Eventually she was comfortable enough and she wanted to go further; their sessions became longer after this.

Lili learned things that turned him on-things that he did not even know about-and he realized how much he enjoyed things with her as well; she was the only person who had ever gotten him to feel that way. Some things she got him loving to do were things that he barely even attempted before in his highly limited experience back in his teenage years, and when he did he didn't particularly enjoy them.

Like going down on her, for one. Between the sheer intimacy of it, the fact he was the only man she had allowed to do that, and her response to it quickly made it one of his favorite things to do to her. Well-all of that added to the fact that he got to sometimes have her legs practically wrapped around his head for the act, which he quite liked.

He remembered that night when he had the urge to kiss her stomach, but the servants had arrived. He had no idea what had come over him, but he remembered well how badly he wanted to continue-which was completely unlike him-and when he finally got to try out what he wanted to, well...afterward he had gotten a lot of 'practice' on her during his last eight weeks there. As a result he became very good at knowing what she liked. He recalled more than once during his time there he was content to just get her off with his tongue-he also loved how she tasted-and then lay back so she could go to sleep on him afterward.

Lili, on those nights, mused more than once in her endorphin-addled brain that she just may have hit the proverbial jackpot here with this one in regards to sex.

He slid his finger out, licking it off; he had not had her taste in his mouth for long enough that it made him moan very quietly in his throat. She stared down at him, already sliding a leg over his shoulder; she knew what he wanted to do. Not that she didn't want it-she quite loved when he gave her head. Normally she wouldn't allow herself to think of things in such a crude and base manner, as she typically strove to be elegant-but she was long, long past elegance at this point when it came to this particular moment; quite frankly she didn't care if she had to hire a private cleaner to take care of the couch, the bed, or anywhere else they decided to go at it over the next couple of days had been so damned long.

His smirk took on a slight evil tone as he turned his head to kiss her thigh. He pressed close to her to get a mouthful of her taste before starting to lick her; starting slowly until she began to press her hips into him more; he sped up at this point, knowing that she wanted more after the initial teasing.

Lili leaned back; she was at an angle on the couch, fairly close to his head as she half-sat and half lay there. She allowed loud moans to escape her lips; it felt so good after this long and she was very pleased to know he had not forgotten anything.

Sergei listened to her breathing grow heavier as he continued on; he roughly ran his tongue all around her, covering it in her taste. Being surrounded by her from all sides, his tongue licking her up and down and her scent and taste filling his senses caused him to suddenly have to focus, lest he end up in a situation that could be beyond painful below his waist. He had to pause a moment to adjust; this was a common occurrence he knew, but he always ended up starting before he could undress for some reason.

Lili cried out when she felt the tip of his tongue begin to slowly stroke her clit; she tightened her legs as a small moan escaped his throat. He picked up a little speed before sliding his tongue inside of her for awhile instead; he was trying to extend this as long as he could since afterward he would be ready to explode, despite having amazing self control.

There was only so much he could control when he was in a situation like this, however.

Her hands were firmly wrapped in his hair, stroking it as she held onto him. She squealed again when she felt him begin to lick faster at her clit-she had missed this sensation so much. She looked down at him; he met her gaze again for a moment as he pulled back slightly to tease her from a little further back. He finally decided to bring her over the edge; he wanted her taste to fill his mouth again and to feel her shudder.

She bit her lip and threw her head back as she felt him sucking at her clit this time, faster and faster, his tongue rolling around it as well. She could not hold back; with a low cry she let go, allowing the familiar-and very missed-waves of pleasure to take her over those moments; and that they did. She allowed herself to be quite vocal this time. Sergei did not stop until he had seemingly drank the last bit out of her, pulling away finally to tease her some moments. She yelped when he got too close to her clit-the length of time since their last and the immense pleasure she felt now left her almost uncomfortably sensitive in that area, so he was careful to pick up the remainder around other areas instead.

Lili panted, looking down at him as he pulled away; he wanted to do more, but there would be time. He would be here awhile. He nuzzled her leg, resting his head against it and planting more kisses on it. He missed how it felt against him. He smirked up at her, his eyebrow raising for a moment like it usually would; Lili chuckled weakly, thinking about how hot he looked right now and how hot he made her.

What have we done to each other, Sergei...

Sergei leaned forward to lick her a little more before pulling away; he stood, smirking down. Lili leaned in to kiss the tip of his member before running her tongue slowly up and down it, causing a low sound-almost a growl-to emit from his chest. She wanted him inside of her at this point, but she wanted to at least tease him a bit. She could already taste a bit of saltiness; she knew it was not going to take him long. She sucked at him a few moments at least, just to hear him moan and to feel him rub the her shoulders and neck with his strong hands as she knelt half on the sofa; she finally licked at it a few more times before standing. While she would have liked to do this more, she knew that she would have gotten him off in moments.

"Lay down," she said.

Sergei nodded, knowing what she wanted this time. He did so, pulling something from his pocket so they did not have to separate early this time. Lili chuckled, knowing he had actually brought some with him.

He took his trousers off the rest of the way, Lili looking up and down his body and counting herself quite lucky again that thisis what her sexual partner looked like. Lili was not overly shallow, but she did have some high physical expectations of a partner. Sergei filled these with no issues whatsoever.

She slowly settled herself down on him, wincing a tiny bit as it had been a long time and she needed to adjust for his size again. She leaned down to kiss him lightly on the mouth; two years ago she heard stories of people kissing after oral sex and found them dirty and crude, but she didn't care anymore. Lili would never, ever lose her elegance, but when it came to Sergei and sex she found herself getting a fair bit more open with things.

She began to move her hips against him; enjoying being with him again, so much. This probably wouldn't take too long given his arousal. Neither of them were the longest lasting during the actual act-well, Lili had no one to compare him to-but she didn't care; usually after they were done with the foreplay Lili was starting to get a touch worn out anyway.

She leaned in to kiss his neck; now that she was on top she was highly enjoying his body. She wasn't always on top, but she liked when she decided to, and Sergei quite liked the view himself; her nicely toned stomach was always a pleasure to look at as he stroked it with his hands. He met her rhythm, grunting low as he came closer and closer to coming himself. She ran her nails down his sides and chest, causing his lip to curl into a slight snarl...but it was not a nasty one in the least.

She always thought he looked sort of cute when he did that, though she would never tell him.

Riding him faster, she began to feel him twitch; she knew he was coming soon. She leaned over to continue bearing down on him, her toned legs clenching at his sides as he brought his hands around to her lower back and rear. He growled low in his throat as he finally came; he actually lasted pretty well all told, given how long it was, but he slid his head back, his eyes closed as Lili slumped forward, continuing to thrust and clench around him. He moaned a bit more when she did that.

When they were through, they broke apart, Sergei taking a more comfortable position on the sofa as she lay half on top of him, leaning against the back of it. They said nothing; they didn't have to. Sergei looked over at her a moment, taking the time to stroke a few strands of her hair back. Lili smiled back, leaning in to kiss him again lightly, enjoying his touch at her side.

"Let's not wait that long ever again," she finally said. "If you can help it."

Sergei smirked at her. "I will try."

She grinned. "You're here for awhile, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"Then we don't have to wait that long, now, do we?"

He raised his eyebrow, licking his lips again. He could still faintly taste her. He reached his hand up to stroke the side of her face with one finger for a few moments. He ran a hand through his hair, which had gotten a bit sweaty from everything. He glanced over to the bathroom and stood to go take a shower, grabbing a towel on the way to signify it.

Lili chuckled and went after him. They did this a few times back at the manor, and she figured it certainly wouldn't hurt to get back to that.


	7. Chapter 7

Another busy day. Well, technically I am working, even if it's an internship and I don't have to work all the time.

Lili's morning was fairly free today, but she had a few other things she had to take care of later on. She tried to assemble an outfit that would be comfortable, but could swap in various bits to better fit more business-oriented endeavors.

She had chosen a dark gray skirt-shorter and a bit tighter-to follow with black long socks and her shorter, more stylish combat boots. The tight, black tank top finished the outfit off-she did not need to wear more due to the weather-along with a few accessories. It wasn't completely on the wild side, but she managed to assemble a nice cross of 'tame' and 'stylish'. She could turn it quickly into an outfit more suitable for a very fast business meeting with a long sleeved jacket, which she just took with her. Granted the skirt may have been a little short and a businesswoman typically did not wear combat boots even if hers were of a smaller and more stylish bent, but they knew that Mr. Rochefort's daughter was still young and weren't going too hard on her.

Sergei was in her room, watching her get ready. He was fairly relaxed at this time; he tended to take these moments when he could get them. Lili paid a fair deal of attention to her appearance, though she took less time than many. She didn't need to take a ton of time due to her natural beauty. She tended to go a little lighter on make up than clothing.

Sergei did not know fashion unless it was military based, and while Lili could make about anything look good-he had seen her in a variety of styles-he knew that he particularly liked seeing her in the type of outfit she picked. Today his duty would to be to simply stand by the door and look imposing. Lili had told him he did not have to dress formally for this one-considering the late summer that had come back, making the September weather muggy, it was nice that he didn't have to-so he wore his more field oriented gear, topped with a sleeveless shirt and Kevlar vest. He would wear his full dress gear for the more formal dinners; he did like dressing in that, and Lili loved to see him in his uniform, but there was something she found sexy about this, as well. He looked ready to begin hurting people.

The dangerous, hidden side of Lili found this exceptionally hot.

When she was finished getting ready, she nodded to him. The limo would be waiting outside. She paused for a moment to tilt her head up and give him a light kiss on the side of the mouth before walking out. She tried to do this every now and again. He would always smirk.

She could be a woman of action, too.

Overall, the day was not too exciting; it was going around in the limo to pick up various paperwork before meeting for the business dinner. Sergei would be there as well. He tended to make the others nervous, but he was, technically, her bodyguard. Lili usually tried to cover up the fact that she quite enjoyed fighting herself when dealing with these types, for her father's sake. She hated acting helpless but she was willing enough to swallow her pride temporarily and grudgingly for her family.

At one point during the evening, Sergei had gotten up to examine something; Lili could sort of feel a tenseness on him similar to what he had the night the attack at the house happened. She sort of wondered if some enemies were about, though no issues had come up during the dinner. He seems to be able to sniff out members of the Mishima Zaibatsu. She was quite glad, as to this day she still had, well, rather large issues with them for causing her father to collapse from stress and for the attempts on her family's life.

In an odd way, she almost had to thank them, however. If not for their insistance on attempting to take down her family, she may have never met Sergei.

You can see the bright side in anything, Lili.

She choked back laughter at the dinner as it would be unseemly, though it did brighten her mood somewhat. Eventually Sergei came back to the table, still very alert and a bit on edge, though not quite as much. He nodded outside the window, and there was indeed a black car across the street, though it was in a well lit enough area.

It eventually drove away, and never came back.

The moment was forgotten until the dinner was over; Lili stayed after to read over a few things. Sergei looked outside again, and back at her.

"I think I want to walk back. I can meet you there."

Lili blinked. "How come?"

"I'd like to scout around."

Lili ran a hand through her bangs a moment. "I'd like to come with you."

Sergei raised an eyebrow, though he lacked the usual smirk when he did so. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

Lili folded her arms, simply looking over at him.

Sergei's lip tugged up slightly finally; it was extremely slight. He knew she was not taking no for an answer. Unlike the situation at the house, her life did not seem in direct danger. Had that been the case, he would have put his foot down...or at least tried to.

He was her guard, in any case, and he was Sergei Dragunov. He could-and would-protect her if there had been an army. And not only because she was technically his charge right now.

He nodded. "Get your things."

They ended up taking a more winding way around; Sergei seemed to have a sort of plan, though he was not telling Lili anything at the moment.

"They left, didn't they?" she asked, curious. She had taken off some of her fancier accoutrements and had her outfit back to it's more casual state. She was happy she picked a more sensible and easy to move in one...just in case.

"They did, but I didn't want to go directly back. In case they followed."

After a few moments, she realized something. "...you're going after them." She thought over everything, and she knew that going back would have been perfectly okay if that was what he wanted. He wanted to neutralize the threat, she knew now.

He turned toward her. "I will take care of them."

He turned it around...instead of them getting the drop on us, he wanted to get them first.

He seemed to be walking certain areas; slightly out of the way, then more out broad, then back in out-of-the-way places. He knew if they were still around, they would follow; and likely make their strike in a hidden locale. He had his arm through Lili's; they would walk around like this from time to time if out. It was nothing obvious or even suspicious; more of a gentlemanly show, which fit pretty well with his role.

Eventually, as they appeared down a particular alley near a bridge...the car pulled up. They had taken the bait. They probably had no idea who her guard was, and Sergei guessed they were not some of the Zaibatsu's smartest if he was able to lure them into this trap. Or they perhaps had too high of a view of their own skills.

Two men stepped out; the car was shadowed. Lili stepped off to the side as Sergei approached them; they did not seem to make a move toward Lili yet. After they saw that Sergei was not slowing down, they quickly tried to take action, but they were already too late.

Sergei had them both in his sights; they tried to rush him at once. This was rather foolish, as it let him just kill them both more quickly. They were no match for the huge Spetsnaz; they didn't even seem to be trying this time. They probably thought she would have been alone and that they may have been able to take care of things just as she was leaving, and they probably had no idea of the prowess of Sergei. They most likely had no idea who Sergei Dragunov even was, not that it would matter.

There was a third man as well coming up from the side from the shadows; he seemed to be at a better angle to Sergei than the other two were. Sergei probably noticed him, but didn't seem to make a move toward him yet.

Lili, standing back, saw the glint of silver; a weapon of sorts. Her stomach twisting, she trusted Sergei but she did not want to take any chances.

She may have subconsiously wanted to fight next to Sergei again as well.

She didn't realize she could move as quickly as she moved at that moment. She came around, the side of her hand hitting him in the face, possibly breaking his nose by the sound. Remembering what Sergei had taught her, she came around with her hand hitting upward; she then twisted his arm in a lock, hitting again, dislocating the elbow and forcing him to drop the weapon. She then pushed him away and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to double over-a second kick to the knee caused him to fall; dislocating it for sure and possibly breaking the kneecap. As he rolled over to his stomach-the wind knocked out of him-she came around with a wide, arcing downward kick with her heel to his shoulder where it connected to his neck; she knew from contact the bone broke. The man was down; between a dislocated elbow and a broken knee, shoulder, and even nose, he was not moving anywhere quickly. Inch by inch, maybe.

Unlike Sergei, Lili was not a killer; for her, the fight was over. She won, the would-be attacker was defeated with at least three broken bones, and that was enough.

As she turned back-her adrenaline quite turned up at the moment-she heard the horrible crunching and cracking sounds that tended to follow Sergei's combat. She winced.

They'll keep coming back. You know it.

She looked over; he had a dead man in his grasp, his limbs-and neck-all twisted into various positions that they really shouldn't have been; she could guess that he ended up in his grasp and was unable to escape, like so many hundreds before other one on the ground-slumped against the wall-had blood pooling all around his head and dripping down the wall; she figured he had probably been thrown, slammed, or kicked into it.

Sergei dropped the man, walking over to examine Lili after he saw the knife on the ground; seeing the condition of the man, Sergei's eyes glittered with that pride that they did when he saw what she was capable of. Usually a bodyguard would have flipped out on a charge that willingly jumped into battle with an armed man, but Sergei knew what Lili could do.

She knew he wasn't going to let him live-Sergei did not take prisoners unless ordered. He had crawled maybe half a meter in that time; but she didn't look away fast enough-or maybe that morbid curiosity had come out and she purposefully didn't turn away, she never did figure that out-when he smashed his head into the pavement with his huge boot. Sergei did not play nicely, she knew. She heard the crunching bone, and later would remember the window she could see into his misshapen head on the side. She was happy he was face down, at least, though the blood poured down the angled alleyway and into the slightly depressed gutter. A few other things seemed to be around his head as well-things that she tried not to look at too hard. Jesus, Sergei. You could have just broken his neck. He had finished a man at the house in a similar manner, though she did not see that happen, and that wasn't as bad. In the silence of the alley, she could hear the blood dripping there was so much of it.

She was still, in the back of her mind, somewhat fascinated about his capacity for violence and methods of killing. Sergei did not just seem to want his enemies dead...he wanted them obliterated. She mused that his nickname likely did not come from him being merciful. Sergei seemed to want to send a message to would-be attackers when they eventually came across the remains. A very, very obvious message. Simply breaking his neck wouldn't have done that. Smashing his head in, however, would.

When she was finally able to look away from the brutality-she suspected it was a case of train wreck syndrome-she looked over at Sergei whom was standing next to her again. The man was going after Sergei with the weapon, not me. Which was odd-they probably know about him too and wish to take him out now as well for his interference.

"I disabled him." The idea of personally killing someone disturbed her.

Sergei nodded. "I can handle the rest." He began to walk away from the area, taking another way back to her building.

She nodded, following him. She could fight, and could fight well, but she couldn't bring herself to kill, she thought. She knew that Sergei was going to finish the man she downed, but that was different for her. She won the battle already-whatever happened after that was out of her control.

However, after thinking of other scenarios...ones that did not sit well with her at all, she spoke up again. "If he had his gun pointed at you...I... may have." His neck was just a couple of inches from his shoulder. The spinal cord was not hard to sever with a sharp enough blow, she knew from watching Sergei. While she lacked his sheer brute strength, she was trained and did know how to hit...and knew from breaking his shoulder if she had aimed over just a bit she would have broken his neck instead. Thinking back, she remembered seeing the gun in its holster as the man fell.

If he had the gun drawn instead of the knife-if it had been Sergei's life or his-I would have done it.

Just like he does for me.

Sergei stopped, facing her, wiping his bloody hands on his trousers. Lili quickly learned being around Sergei that while fighting normally wasn't necessarily an enormously bloody affair-depending where you hit someone-killing people with one's bare hands was. He went to touch her, but the blood wasn't gone. It wasn't going to rub off on her, but still. He pulled back...but she took his hand in both of hers and touched it to her cheek.

It was her way of saying that despite his sometimes immeasurable brutality, she would never turn away from him.

She was not so squeamish anymore. Besides, the blood was dry. If he could kill to protect her without a second thought, she could touch him. She had made people bleed before-noses, mouths, and whatnot. Just now she had broken the man's nose and ended up with some spatter on her hand. There was no difference she figured if that blood came from a living or dead man.

He simply looked at her in his silence; yet his eyes and his touch, as usual, told her everything.

–

They made it back in good time. The authorities knew the Rocheforts-her father being a rather big donator, especially to help keep them safe-and they knew she had a guard. If Zaibatsu members ended up dead, it was probably due to him. She knew that anything would be taken care of.

She was a little bothered on how she was so much more calm this time than the first, but perhaps she knew Sergei, and knew that he was not going to let any attackers leave alive unless he had specific instructions to do so. She wondered why she had not given him those instructions yet; she never even thought about it. She stood by the wall, sipping a large cup of coffee-spiked as she usually did after a more harrowing situation- and stared out the window; the night was clear and warm.

Sergei, fresh from the shower, came over to stand next to her. This had happened before, and he noticed she was even less rattled this time, even taking what he taught her and using it to take the third man down. She even did it without hesitating and did not get injured, which often happened when people tried to disarm opponents.

Lili walked over to sit next to him-she was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, nothing more. It was hot, and she had gotten out of the shower herself despite not having been in Sergei's condition.

"It's weird," she started. "It's gone on so long that I'm not even surprised anymore. We don't often get flat-out attacked. The past year-at the house, and then now-was twice. Before that it was a few times over the years. Not often. I wanted to protect my family. It's why I had joined the tournament in the first place."

Sergei just nodded, going to sit down by the window so he could take out a cigarette. He sort of wanted one now. Lili didn't mind-she didn't smoke-well, she liked how she looked with one of those long clove cigarettes, but she maybe had one of those twice. Sergei didn't smoke often, usually after fights or at the end of the day.

"Thank you," she said, looking over at him.

"It's my duty."

She shook her head. "You're doing far more than that. You've...been a lot more to me."

He looked over at her, a tiny smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. He was still silent for some moments before speaking.

"You fought perfectly tonight. I saw you from the corner of my eye. You didn't even get cut by the knife."

Lili smiled at that, puffing up just a tiny bit inside.

When he was finished his cigarette, she set her cup down and leaned over on him. She knew he was not an emotional type; he would never be 'sweet' or anything of the sort. She didn't care though. She didn't need that. She usually found that sort of fake, truth be told, and found sappy guys kind of annoying. Everyone assumed since she was a rich, elegant sort she would want a man who would be...well, like a stereotypical Romeo, but she would have none of that.

When she felt him lightly place his arm around her-his huge hand resting on her head-she knew she had far more. Sergei was, to others, all but unemotional; he could kill in a blink of an eye, and no matter how brutal, he would not budge. He was happy in combat. He was a dangerous man who had probably, in the fourteen or so years he had served-accumulated a kill count in the thousands with his own hands. He had killed his own men for getting out of line without so much as blinking if they compromised a mission. She had literally watched him kill three men tonight just a few hours ago and four more those months back when they tried to attack her manor. Emotion to him was something that was buried somewhere deep, only to come out under circumstances when he damn well meant it to, and those circumstances almost did not exist.

Almost.

So when he touched her-whether it was in physical pleasure or simply offering his hand to gently stroke her hair after helping to protect her-or helping to train her to better protect herself-she knew he meant it. Even showing emotion with him was something that was not taken lightly, and the fact that he did not pretend told her how much he actually did care, even though he never said anything.

Sergei sat up for a moment to lay down on the sofa; he let her lay on top of him as he rest his arm over her as he put the other behind his head. His hand stroked her hair as he gazed out the window, occasionally looking back to her as she lay in silence.

Silence isn't so bad, Lili thought to herself, as she allowed his touch to soothe her the rest of the way.


	8. Chapter 8

The weather had finally taken a turn more toward the autumn; it was nearly October at this point. This also meant chilly rain, which Lili wasn't too pleased about, though Sergei didn't seem to care. Given that he had probably lived in snow drifts for weeks waiting for a kill-or so Lili thought-she wasn't surprised.

Lili had felt like going out shopping that day; Sergei was with her. The great thing about his 'duty' was that he was her bodyguard, and so could be seen out with her with absolutely no issues whatsoever; he rode in the same limo, and sat at the same dining establishments.

Of course, no one had any clue onto usually what happened the night before-or sometimes even that morning-but that was an aspect that Lili liked. She occasionally had to try to keep a straight face when talking to Alain when he was busy driving them around.

They were taking a break, Lili sitting in a fine cafe and looking over a few things on her tablet that she really _should_ have done already but she had ended up a little...distracted a few times. She took a sip of her drink and looked out the window; Sergei was outside, having a cigarette. She couldn't help but look at him for awhile. He was wearing his longer rain jacket; it was a dark brownish green coat, which he had open at the moment. Underneath he had on a tight Kevlar shirt and his usual field trousers and combat boots; she watched his hulking frame pace back and forth as he took drags of the cigarette. He would occasionally glance inside to make sure everything was okay.

Lili had to chuckle as people seemingly maneuvered far away to get around him; he was so good at intimidating people he didn't even have to try. She noticed him rub the scar on his mouth; he would do this now and again, often when he was in thought. He would do it a bit more harshly if he was agitated, but she could tell that was not the case at this moment.

She had actually been a bit frustrated with him this morning. It happened from time to time. She was still, for all intents and purposes, a young lady who was a _bit_ on the spoiled side and used to getting her way. She could occasionally get frustrated at his extraordinarily stubborn devotion to his work, and how he would rarely give concrete answers. She knew they couldn't have anything official, but it still frustrated her when he would leave things too open. She knew his duty was to his motherland and his killing arts, but she sort of wished that she was at the top of the list, even though she knew she couldn't be.

When she was walking out of the flat in a huff-he had said very little the entire time, simply explaining his situation as she knew he would-she felt his hand come over her shoulder and the backs of his fingers stroke down the side of her face once. He said nothing. She sighed after a moment, since she knew what that meant.

Sergei, as always, used actions over words.

It was so hard for her to stay upset. She realized she wasn't even upset at him, but more at the situation. She made her choice-she knew _exactly_ what she was getting; an affair with a man ten years older whom put his military duty above all whom she may only get to see now and then.

She knew by his touch that he cared more than she realized sometimes. He was never what you would call sweet, emotional, or anything of that nature. Yet she felt far, far more when he touched her than she did with any of the guys she had dated who were of the more traditional type.

She looked back outside at him; he was watching her from outside, the cigarette in his mouth. That longcoat, she mused, looked nice on him. Anything looked nice on him, be it uniform, field gear...or, well, much less.

He finished the cigarette, coming back in to sit next to her, silently looking around for a moment before nodding toward the empty cup in front of him; the waiter realized he wanted a refill, and so poured him the coffee and brought over a second shot of vodka. Sergei took his coffee with vodka when he was out. Lili mused that she rarely saw him eat unless it was at a restaurant, when he would often get very large portions and had a penchant for meat. She figured he had to eat a ton to keep that massive body going, but she guessed he just did mostly in his own flat or on his own time. She wondered what sorts of foods they ate in Russia. She knew of the dumplings, which she had at a dinner with her father and one of his Russian corporate colleagues, but not much else. She was quite schooled on other fine cuisines, but mostly around Western Europe or Japan.

She looked out the window before realizing she no longer wanted to be doing work. She remembered why she got frustrated this morning...and she wanted to go actually just back to her giant flat. She looked over.

"I'm ready." She stood, going over to the coatroom to get her coat, which one of the doormen picked up and helped her into. She tipped him nicely.

Sergei was already waiting by the door, holding it open.

"Home?" he asked.

Lili nodded. "You're coming with me." She smirked, letting him know he didn't have much choice in the matter.

She heard him chuckle once-in that deep voice that she loved to hear on the odd times she did-as he escorted her to the waiting limo.

–

Sergei had arrived in her room after a couple of hours; he had his own reports to write and correspondence to deal with. He never really had days off, more just times where he could relax. She was half-dressed at this moment, planning on a shower soon. He nodded at her-she always chuckled since after all they did he still nodded hello-and sat back on the sofa there, seemingly relaxing. He had probably been up since dawn, she figured. He usually was. He wasn't wearing too much himself-just his usual trousers and a tank top. She offhandedly wondered if he had on anything underneath, and chuckled to herself when the thought entered.

She saw him spin his arm for a moment and decided she wanted to do something for him. She walked up behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders to begin to massage them. She felt him tense up for just a moment-but then exhale deeply, moaning softly in his throat. She couldn't see it, but the small smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. It started to feel rather nice right away.

He was sometimes thankful that Lili sort of helped him enjoy some things that had nothing to do with battle.

He was tense; she imagined he did not get this done often. And by often, she meant 'at all'. She did regret not doing this more; she would have to rectify that in their future meetings. Her hands stayed on his shoulders, traveling to his neck to work out some of the tense feeling as well; Sergei simply leaned forward to let her massage him.

It felt very nice. He enjoyed her touch as it was, and this sort of thing wasn't too common for him. The last time he had one of these was indeed from Lili, back when he was at their manor...which was a long time ago. He liked how she knew she could be fairly rough with this, as it felt better to him.

He knew there would be no stopping the rather crowded feeling his trousers were getting at the moment, but that was typical when he was around her in private. He was quite good at composing himself in public, even when she wore more revealing or sexy outfits, but when alone he stopped even bothering. He leaned his head forward more, closing his eyes.

Lili continued for awhile, rubbing his neck and shoulders up and down, using her thumbs to go down his spine a bit to relax him a bit more. When she heard him give out a low sigh, she stood back, running her hands through his hair a few times. He had it out of it's tail again; it was it's usual length. He seemed to keep it trimmed around this. He liked it around this length since it was long enough to keep him a bit warmer in the bitter winters, but short enough to quickly make look neat and presentable. She rubbed his neck a few more moments before leaning down slightly.

He turned to face her, his telltale smirk appearing. He reached a hand over to trace down her side.

 _You're welcome, Sergei._ She knew what he meant.

She turned to go take a shower. It had been sort of a long day of running around.

Lili sipped a cappuccino she had made; she had enjoyed her long shower and now wandered around...wearing only one of her tank tops. She was thankful to be 'off' for a few days, so to speak; today was the last day for a bit that she had to do anything particularly important.

Being busy had the drawback of not getting much time to do what she wanted, but that happened. She was happy Sergei came over today after everything, and now the two were relaxing after she had given him the small massage; though nothing besides that had happened between them...yet. She noticed him eyeing her, as she did from time to time. Given her outfit had no pants at all at the moment, there was absolutely nothing between the two of them. The shirt was a bit longer than normal-she usually wore it when she wished to cover her stomach somewhat-but it did not cover a whole lot of her.

He leaned back on the couch, reaching a hand out when she walked by him to brush it over her rear. She giggled.

"Already?" To be fair, he had composed himself for quite awhile.

He looked up at her with an expression that seemed to ask her if she was kidding or not; they had been together for awhile with nothing happening, she had given him an incredibly nice massage, and now she was walking around in front of him with no pants on. In his position his head was barely over a foot from her nether regions. He leaned over to kiss her stomach a few times, a hand reaching around over to her rear. Lili simultaneously moaned and laughed; it felt very good, but ticklish.

Sergei thought idly to himself if she expected him to do anything else when she walked by him with absolutely nothing on her lower body. He only teased her a few moments though, kissing her a few more times before letting her get back to whatever she was doing.

She sort of forgot at the moment-and of course she picked her 'outfit' with purpose-and just lay down with him on the sofa. She liked doing this, anyhow. This was one of her favorite things to do with him that wasn't sexual, besides sparring when she could coax or trick him into doing that with her. His hand came around to run over her leg and rear again; with them in such close vicinity, it was a little hard for him to resist.

Lili looked over at him to instigate a kiss. Suddenly, she sort of wanted the night to become more. Maybe it was to let things slip off of her, so to speak; Sergei's pleasure was always something that was really damn good at getting her mind off of stuff. She had been a little frustrated at her situation lately, which happened from time to time. She decided to go ahead and start things off. Lili was always a bold young woman, though she hadn't developed the bold nature of the more sexual kind until Sergei.

She walked over to the wall, gesturing for him to come over. He did, running his hands over her shoulders and her face. He leaned over and kissed her lips several times softly before giving her a deep one, his tongue sliding into her mouth and around. It didn't take long for it to pick up intensity; when the two of them were together physically this was usually the case. They sort of knew in the back of their head that he may have duty beyond having to guard her at any time, and that they could be caught, or whatever else-so they seemed to take advantage of all of the physical time they could.

His hands went over her rear and the backs of her legs, massaging them before moving back up a bit. He looked down, crouching to kiss below her navel a few moments, but stopping short. She slightly opened her legs in an attempt to keep him from teasing her too much, though he just gave her an evil smirk before trailing back up again, paying some attention to her breasts on the way, running his tongue slowly around them before nipping at them ever so slightly.

She gasped; he nipped just hard enough to cause a bit of pain, though pleasant pain. He came back up to kiss her more. He was being quite heavy with her tonight, though she welcomed this after everything, and liked it anyway when he was.

He broke the kiss to trail down again, this time taking a more comfortable position before he began to kiss her mound, causing Lili to moan softly. He wrapped his hands around her waist to carry her to the edge of the bed; he set her down with her legs positioned off of it. She sat at the edge this time, putting her leg aside to give him better access. He did not start yet-he nuzzled her thigh for awhile, giving it very light kisses up and down, as he allowed his tongue to run up the smooth skin. He kissed up her other thigh, glancing up at her every so often. He would sometimes pause when he was particularly high up just to kiss a few times. He was teasing her _very_ badly tonight, and she wondered what she did to deserve it. She also wondered how he had enough self control to not go right for her center, though she wouldn't realize it was all he could do to hold back. His breath and touch made her moan louder, hoping he would start to release her soon.

She let out a louder, gasping moan when she felt his lips press to her center once, and his tongue begin to run up and down her slowly; he still teased her. He kept tracing his tongue from bottom to top, again and again-and this started to drive Lili mad, as it would just barely touch everything before going back again. This wasn't fair she thought-he was getting to taste her but she was still getting tormented. She grasped his hair with her hand, entwining her fingers in it. The window was open, inviting in the cool breeze which felt nice against her skin; being so high up she could not hear much more but some occasional wind and whatever they were doing. The sound of his heavy breathing-as well as...other things, turned her on yet even more.

As mad he had been driving her, she knew the orgasms felt that much better after he teased her and she appreciated that he did not like to rush.

She looked down, seeing his tongue slightly out as she felt it swirling around her; she exhaled heavily at the feeling. It was just as hot this time as it was any other. She really liked the position of sitting on the side of the bed. She still wanted to experiment with things, including positions, until she found her favorites. They didn't use this one too often, as usually they had ended up into it so quickly she dropped right on the floor or was thrown on the sofa.

After seeing her in almost nothing, Sergei had wanted to do something about it. He didn't even need to say anything to her.

Not that he was actually _able_ to speak at this particular moment.

Pushing closer, he moved a little more and now had full access from where he was; he opened his mouth, allowing the full length of his tongue to begin sliding around, going up inside of her to thrust for awhile.

Lili leaned her head forward, one hand rubbing the back of his head as she sort of pushed on him a little bit herself, completely enthralled by the feeling as her breathing grew heavier and more ragged. He had gotten _really goddamn good_ at this over those weeks at the manor.

She continued to rub the back of his head, her fingers still in his hair as they kept up with his own rhythm. His mouth already very wet, he licked his lips a moment, sparing her a fast flick of his tongue before pausing to kiss her thigh again. Lili tried not to chuckle as it was a tiny bit ticklish; he kissed back to her center fast enough to continue. He slowly swirled his tongue around to somewhat clean her off, as she was completely soaked at this point, much to his pleasure. He moaned low himself as he stared up her body for a moment, reaching his hands around to give her rear a squeeze before running his hands back down her legs.

She let her head fall back, breathing heavily and moaning much more often now. Sergei moaned low as he began to suck at her clit, pressing back to her once again; he wanted to feel her shudder against him. He felt Lili thrusting toward him as he picked up the pace faster until he finally felt her tense in his grasp as he held onto her hips with both hands-one sliding up to stroke her firm stomach as he felt it contract in pleasure as she let out a much louder moan-not relenting in his ministrations until he felt her relax. She lay back after this finally, sighing.

He stayed for awhile more, however, lightening his touch and sucking at her slowly, causing more moans to escape her throat. Originally planning on stopping then, he knew when she tangled her fingers in some more she would be easy to bring over the edge again due to her sensitivity. He kept slowly at her for awhile-giving her light kisses and strokes of his tongue-until he suspected she was ready; as he returned to her clit with the tip of his tongue she put a free hand up to her mouth to catch a rather loud yelp. She found herself thrusting her own hips toward his mouth; she bit her lip, leaning her head back. It was the second time-once she got over the initial sensitivity-that could sometimes feel even better since she was already primed, so to speak. She especially liked when he began to pick up his pace in an _almost_ rough manner near the end.

After a few moments of the wonderful feeling she shivered against him again, her moans louder than the time before, though she managed to hold them back somewhat, for discretion.

He finished drinking her in, thinking of how lovely she looked when she came. He didn't get up right away, instead leaning his head against her thigh, kissing it and lightly running his tongue over it a few times as her hand relaxed in his hair. He stayed there a short while, looking up at her, the small smile he would get forming in the corner of his mouth. She looked down at him for a few moments in silence as she ran a few fingers through his hair.

He nuzzled at her thigh a bit longer, finally kissing it one last time. He stood, shifting a bit and licking his lips. He brought his hand up around his chin to wipe a bit more off; he had gotten her off rather well this time, to say the least. Her midsection and his lower face were soaked. Lili chuckled; it was hard not to. She loved to see this side of him...and she loved the fact that she was the only person to have ever brought it out.

He sat next to her to stroke her with a large hand. Lili caught her breath and looked over at him, heavy lidded, once again musing how she considered herself _extremely_ lucky on the intimate habits he had decided he liked. She reached over to smooth down his hair after she had done a fairly nice job of disheveling it holding onto his head. She positioned herself back on the bed to lay down for awhile; he joined her, with his head closer to her waist.

He didn't say anything, as usual. He didn't have to. Lili finally leaned up on her elbow to trace her hand down his face. She was careful to usually not do things she found too on the affectionate side because she did not want to get too attached in that way-but sometimes she couldn't help it...and of late, she _really_ couldn't help it.

Sergei's smirk reappeared at that.

After some moments, she turned toward him. "Are you coming back to the manor?"

"I don't think that far ahead."

She nodded; she knew the answer to that, but she figured it didn't hurt to check back every once in awhile. "Look. I know we can't...have anything. Well anything more."

He nodded once. "Regardless, there is no one else. There would never be." He spoke the truth. Sergei was a very, very particular man when it came to things. Before Lili, he had no want really anymore for such things. After, he had no intention of sharing this side of himself with anyone else-especially since even he wasn't sure he had this side until she had come along, anyway. He did not want a technical relationship...but whatever it was they had-which they had no name for and frankly didn't care-he was willing to keep.

Lili blinked at that. She realized that she felt the same. "We'll just see when we can then, I suppose." She sounded disappointed.

Sergei touched her face lightly again. "I can find you now and then, if it came down to it."

Lili smiled at that. "Don't let it go too long."

He actually chuckled once. "If it's up to me, no."

Lili lay back on the bed. Sergei lay lower, but in a rather nice position to lay his head against her side, very near her rear with his arm wrapped over her.

They lay like that for awhile, still in silence as Lili's hand absently stroked his hair. Eventually, Sergei kissed her once on her lower back and started to stand; she saw him take a cigarette out of his pocket. He had apparently left the pack in there during everything. She knew after anything sexual-even if he wasn't having actual sex-he liked to smoke for whatever reason. She found it sort of cute...something else she'd never actually say to him.

She sat up, meaning to join him on the couch by the window. She sat on the arm next to him as his free hand stroked down her back. She was surprised to hear him speak.

"The tournament is starting again soon."

Lili looked over at him. "Is it now..." she smirked. "I might be a bit out of practice..."

He snorted laughter. "I wasn't..."

"Hired to train me, I know."

He simply stayed silent, though as she studied his face she saw the ghost of the smirk in the corner of his mouth.

"You'll spar with me again, right?" she asked. Even though he was one person she would fully admit she had no chance against, it was that very reason she liked it. Well, one of them anyway.

"Perhaps."

"You'd let me go in unprepared?"

"No one is forcing you."

She tried to hold back her laughter, since this was actually considered humor for him and felt flattered. "I could order you to."

He eyed her with a sideways glance as he ran his hand up and down her side as she sat. She knew his answer.

After awhile-Lili taking her position under his arm again, she looked up.

"Sergei...why...did you decide to..." she trailed off. She wasn't sure how to ask.

Sergei looked down at her and shrugged.

She nodded. She was curious. A man like Sergei simply did not just fall for people randomly. Or at all, really, in his past.

Truth was, he knew exactly why, but as things were, he could not express himself. He could talk in sentences...or paragraphs, even, when it came to technical things. He'd had plenty of discussions with Lili over training. But these matters were simply beyond him.

Besides physical reasons-he found her beautiful-it was that night where she opened up to him a bit that it started, after he killed the first attackers. He saw how she was vulnerable-but still brave; it was one thing to be bold when you had no reason, but another to be bold when you faced danger-which she did while trying to fight in the tournament to protect her family. It was many other reasons-her intelligence, and her tenacity, including insisting on pushing him to teach her other things.

He could say none of this, but he touched the side of her face again; her expression told him that she knew.

"At least I think I can get you back to the manor again."

He gave her his tiny smile.

She continued. "Hopefully it won't take another eight months."

"It shouldn't. I was complimented on my job last time."

Lili snorted laughter; there was no holding this back. "You said that on purpose."

Sergei just shrugged again. His humor was sporadic and subtle, but that made it all the better when it came out.

She debated getting up to go to the bed, but she decided she didn't even feel like moving. He had that affect on her. She turned her head, giving him a look that said he'd be stuck on the couch tonight.

She felt his hand go over her in answer.

As usual, his touch said everything.


	9. Chapter 9

Maybe One Day

Fenris30

Summary:

* * *

A one-shot short fic that takes place about five months after Sergei left the manor from when he was guarding it in Reticent Watcher, and about four months before the events of 'Tyranny & Grace.' Lili is simply reminiscing a bit about events and what her future is holding so far. Speed-fic attempt.

Notes:

* * *

So...for an author's note, I am attempting a couple of 'speed-writes' here. I'm hoping these help loosen me up for writing a bit! I'm trying to get myself a little less scrutinizing about checking everything, and I was inspired by watching a friend's speed paint to do a couple of faster fics with minimal checking-over. I did do spelling and grammar checking, at least. Hope everyone likes it!

* * *

She couldn't believe she was almost finished. Finally.

Lili was at the tail end of her classes which would soon be over-she of course went to a prestigious, expensive and private high school-and soon she would be starting university to major in business studies in preparation for taking over the company after her father retired. She would be going to summer classes at first; while she grumbled, it turned out that the fall would offer her a great chance to serve in a sort of internship with Rochefort Enterprises in Berlin for some months, so it was wisest for her to start now. She was willing enough to take the hit to get to travel later, as she did love travel. It gave her more freedom.

She had finished her exams-for all intents and purposes, Lili was actually an excellent student. She could butt heads with her teachers, and she could definitely be stubborn-and one might think the times she ditched classes to go get into a street scrap somewhere would count against her. She did very well though, usually pulling off high scores on about anything…save a couple of the more boring ones. Lili, while actually decent at math, could not bring herself to care about trigonometry and usually used this time to doodle out possible new moves to her fighting repertoire.

At this moment she sat in her huge room-the air conditioner taking the edge off of the May heat which was a bit worse than normal-looking over electives. She would of course continue with her violin and piano, and she would decide on perhaps another visual art related one. Checking over the languages, she found herself rather quickly checking off 'Russian', without even thinking much of it.

She then paused to look back at her choice with a bit of a sad smile on her face before looking over at the book that had been left there-it appeared to be a sort of military history book-that was in Russian. She would occasionally leaf through it, though she understood all of maybe two words that were taught to her. She didn't know why he left it here. Maybe he had forgotten it.

Has it really been five months? She thought to herself, leaning back in her chair a moment to sip her iced coffee. She looked out the window; while it was still sunny, she could see some storm clouds far away, sort of reminding her of a day like this almost a year ago.

There were no two ways about it-Lili missed Sergei something fierce. She was strong-she cried only a little bit, and then only alone and around the time that he left-but even she had to give a little there. It was only a brief squall; she went on with her life as normal afterward, though she would still think back from time to time.

He left five months ago; right around New Year on a freezing day, snow blanketing everything about. Her father was back, extremely pleased that everything and everyone were safe thanks to him. He had killed four vicious attackers over the summer that could have done the unspeakable to his family. Sergei had other duties though, and his job was up. Lili knew that he would leave-he had to, even if he wanted to forget his duty. Sergei Dragunov did not ignore duty. She knew the affair they had could be not much more than that; an affair. It still stung, though.

She did remember Sergei being particularly…something with her that last night. She couldn't even say. He was never anything close what one would call 'sweet', but that night she felt something else when he touched her, even above what she felt before.

That first night had been…something she would never forget. Even though they stopped at foreplay-it was very intense. She grinned a bit, remembering how much he liked experimenting with pleasuring her.

She had gone back a few times for a week, and then they had decided to do more. After that, the next eight weeks were quite…interesting, she liked to call it. Three or four times a week over the next eight weeks and she was pretty scared they would get caught…but they never did.

She tried not to think about those nights too much…but she allowed the memories to return once in awhile. They quite changed her; she discovered things that she enjoyed that she never thought much about before then. Wondered, perhaps, yes. But after experiencing them…it was something else. Her virginity was lost the week after that first night-that night had been fun, to say the very least. All of them were.

Lili didn't know she liked it a bit rough until Sergei had come along. To be honest…neither did he, it turned out. It wasn't like sex was something he even thought about before Lili. They were careful to apply scratches and the like only to certain parts of the body to try to hide it. It was quite exciting, truth be told.

Shaking her head to look back at the computer, she continued on; knowing she did want to learn Russian. She liked how it sounded. And, maybe…

She quickly sipped her coffee to take her train of thought back, though it was no use anymore.

Lili sighed, walking over to the window to look out with her drink. Five months wasn't the longest amount of time, but it was more the uncertainty of when-or if-she would see him again. There was a guard there now-a twenty-something German fellow by the name of Kristian; he was friendly enough, unobtrusive, and easygoing. A well-built and handsome young man, he was nonetheless fairly dull in conversation, and she sort of doubted his ferocity in the face of attackers like the ones that managed to breach their manor's perimeter. She suspected he may not be able to handle something like that. She would greet him cordially when they met, but there was absolutely nothing there.

He was better than the last one-the fortyish wiry guy whom she was pretty sure she could take in a serious brawl, at least. She even thought her aging butler could have taken him. She was quite glad no one decided to try anything funny when he was the manor's 'special guard'; he was only there a week, though.

It wasn't that she was afraid, but she missed the silent, huge and fearsome presence in the manor. Who turned out to be much more than a common guard. He understood her far more than the rest, even though he rarely spoke about it. He only had to touch her for her to know, since he did not show emotion easily…if at all, with anyone else. He became a friend in that time she could easily say…and then, much more.

She could face facts, though-he did have the means to contact her if he could, but she heard nothing. She didn't expect to-he put his work first. She imagined him somewhere on the battlefield, probably standing on several corpses that he mangled for getting in his way. Sergei was an immensely brutal man-any other person would have been terrified of him, but Lili was made of sterner stuff than that. She was quite glad that she managed to crack through his shell…and that he reached out to her that night during one of her sadder periods.

Turning around and stretching, she decided to go down to the kitchen for a refill. She had more work to do today and she was a bit tired; an iced espresso would perk her up fast enough. She left the room, running into a familiar face as she turned the corner. It was Sebastian, her family's long-running head butler, friend and confidant.

"My lady," he bowed. "Getting your things ready for university?"

Lili nodded. "Slowly but surely."

Sebastian fixed the sleeves of his expensive suit. "Does something trouble you?"

She chuckled. The old man had known the family for three decades and had known Lili her whole life-and he had been around her just as much as her own father. He was a little more perceptive, as well; he could tell when something was bothering her. She chose her words carefully.

"Just thinking of the future. Things are changing."

He nodded. "That they are. You've seem so much quieter as of late."

Lili looked off to the side for a moment; she didn't much realize it herself, but not long ago a couple of her friends had pointed out the same thing. I guess he rubbed off on me in more ways than I thought. She did find she did not need to use words as often to get her point across. She still talked, of course, and could have quite long conversations…but the frequency of these perhaps did go down just a little.

"Maybe I'm just getting old," she joked.

Sebastian chuckled. "You have a long way for that. Just take care." He bowed, leaving her be.

She smiled; she did trust the old butler with about anything-though this, she would not speak of.

It didn't take one of the many kitchen servants long to refill her; she was back up to the privacy of her room soon after to watch the rain blow in.

She shivered, smirking a bit to herself when she thought back again to some of their nights. When one gets used to having some sort of sexual contact about four times a week for two months and it suddenly disappears, it can have a rather frustrating effect on one's mind at times. They had gotten to know each other very, very well in that time. She was very lucky in that…

She shook her head again one last time. She had to stop thinking about this. She doubted anything would come of it. Both of them knew it. In fact, she had been very good at going on with things as per normal; she managed to adjust to being alone again within a couple of weeks. She suspected that maybe since it was about a year ago that he arrived for the first time-he showed up in the summer and ended up staying until the very end of the year. Her father had an extended trip and paid the military even more for his services, though he had to do some traveling in that time.

No matter the reason, she figured that occupying her mind with more university things, and then the upcoming graduation, would help her out. She would likely be back to normal again like she was the week before, or even yesterday. This was a brief few hours of memories, she suspected. She brushed her hand over the book, moving it to the corner of her desk.

Maybe one day. Maybe there is more to this story after all.

She glanced back to the internet, noting a message that popped up. She opened it.

"King of Iron Fist Tournament qualifying matches begin June."

Lili grinned. Surely, scrapping with a few people would take her mind off of things. Lili wasn't the pining type. She liked to get things done.

Maybe she would bump into a few old faces, too.


	10. Chapter 10

Watcher's Return

Fenris30

Summary:

* * *

After a short battle, Sergei thinks a bit about his time back at the manor...since in one week he'll be returning to be a bodyguard of sorts to Lili. Takes place about a week before Tyranny & Grace begins.

Notes:

* * *

Another speed-write! So yeah, comes with the other potential mistakes that accompany a speed-write. Hope you enjoy as usual! Maybe Sergei will make it out of one of my stories and not be covered in the blood of his enemies. Maybe.

* * *

He stepped inside the tent alone, wiping his brow; the August heat outside of St. Petersburg was quite intense, despite the fact many of the less-knowledgeable people around the world thought Russia tended to be cold all the time.

A smear of blood appeared where he wiped. This was not uncommon for the huge man.

Sergei Dragunov had just gotten finished quelling a small uprising; these would spot the landscape every so often. The Mishima Zaibatsu's covert operatives were still causing issues; Russia was a big country, and they were still around, even after the tournament. No one was able to bring them down, yet. They were more scattered, to be sure...but they were still dangerous.

Sergei was more dangerous, however, and he just showed another small group of them this fact in horrifying detail. There were perhaps eight or nine, but they were not being particularly prudent this afternoon. Sergei was able to get the drop rather easily. One tear gas grenade sent them scattering. Turning one's firearm against him, the rest he simply mangled in close combat, as he usually did and preferred to do. He would use any weapon necessary for the job, but whenever possible, he fought barehanded. It was a test of skill, and he liked to make sure his enemies were dead. He felt he could do that more efficiently up close.

He looked it, too. Some of the blood was his; he did take two knife wounds. They weren't terribly deep, but they were deep enough. Most of it belonged to the enemy. He stripped off his fingerless and now stained Kevlar gloves-it was too hot to wear much more, and removed the likewise blood-spattered vest; also made of Kevlar, to at least give his torso some protection. The cuts were on his arms, as he went in with just his tank top under his vest. The temperature nearing forty degrees Celsius in the sun; it was far too hot for a heavy jacket. Some people still went for the heavier gear, but Sergei did not fear his opposition. He knew he would come out victorious, even if he took some wounds in the process.

He kicked his large, steel reinforced combat boots against the side of the table a moment, knocking some of the blood that had dried off of them of onto the ground. They were about as bad as his gloves.

Massive head wounds tended to bleed a lot.

Sergei, as his nickname usually told, tended to leave behind carnage that was quite loud and clear that whatever was going on really ought to stop, or else more would likely meet their brutal demise.

A few of his men-who had stopped in briefly-looked nervously over in his direction before leaving the tent. He said nothing. Sergei quite did not mind the fact his men were wary around him; it kept them in line. They knew he had killed even his own before for stepping out of line. It sometimes confused them; he was a man of immeasurable brutality, yet they watched him snap the neck of a man who tried to terrorize the opposition. They were non combatant, and thus not a threat. Sergei would kick in the head of an enemy without a thought, but he would not harm anyone who he was not charged to take out. He wasn't what one might call a good man, but he was respectful to those who were not the enemy, or those he had not been tasked to kill. He had to assassinate scientists and the like before, which were non combatant, but that was simply a job. He had no issue with bystanders, and kept his own men in line when it came to them...on pain of death.

There was a person who had not been afraid of his brutal tactics, and he was quite amused to discover it was a near-eighteen year old young woman who he had guarded over the summer.

Who subsequently ended up becoming much more to him than just a charge.

He looked around for a moment, seeing himself alone again. There were not too many men here. He pulled out a canteen of water to take a long drink; while vodka-or coffee-would have been preferred, it was hot, and he needed the water more. He would have some later. He took a cigarette out, lit it, and inhaled; he blew out a long stream of smoke and sat back in the chair. He examined the fresh knife wounds on his arms, knowing that she would have probably tried to insist on immediate care for them. With the cigarette still in his mouth, he began to clean them somewhat with a cloth that was nearby.

In about a week, he would be seeing her again.

His superior had called him in. Mr. Rochefort, of Rochefort Enterprises-who was set up in a trade deal with some of the Russian military involving oil, both had enemies in the Zaibatsu; and his daughter, Lili, would be in Berlin, working with a branch of the company and living mostly on her own in an expensive place. Only a few basic guards and servants would be with her. Sergei had done such a good job that Mr. Rochefort had offered much more money to the military for what was basically a job as a mercenary bodyguard; he would be gone for an undisclosed amount of time.

Sergei had accepted the job; it was his duty to listen to his superiors. He could continue to fight the Zaibatsu covertly, anyway...and he suspected some would try to find either of them while they were there. He was secretly glad, though.

Lili Rochefort meant more to him than any human being ever had. He barely knew his parents, the foster families he had lived with were utilitarian at best, and his men were the equivalent of co-workers. The one girl he had been with as a teenager-he had been younger than Lili-lasted but a couple of months and was nothing serious. He moved on, devoting his life to combat.

While Sergei was not a sentimental, caring type, Lili meant a lot to him. They had an affair while he was there that lasted about eight weeks; it was an intensely physical one, but it did not lack in other aspects, either. He sometimes would remember that first night very well. He did, from time to time, find himself missing her-so when the job came up, he was secretly glad.

However, he was prepared for her to have perhaps moved on; he would be fine with this. He was not too attached. But he could not lie, he hoped she would perhaps be interested in revisiting some things again. Even if they never moved beyond 'affair'-which, truth be told, they could not, given their situations-he enjoyed it. It was one of the few things outside of combat or the military that he had enjoyed. He hadn't thought much of it in the nine months he had been away, though at first there was a very, very tiny part of himself that felt almost a bit...empty after he had left.

He took another drag of the cigarette, unbuckling his knife and tossing it onto the table. It had some blood on it as well; he did utilize it once in the battle-driving it into a man's temple-but he had wiped it off before re-sheathing it. If he had to use a weapon other than his body, a knife was preferred to a gun.

He took a final puff of the smoke, smashing it out in the dirt under his heel. The compound had been on the outskirts of the city, as most of the more secret ones were. They were usually disguised as something else. There had not been many here at this time; they had set up their camp a couple of miles away and went in as to be a bit more covert. A few men with him had shot some of the guards; Sergei took care of the bulk of them. His superiors knew that was what he was best at...and what he enjoyed.

Wiping more sweat from his brow and finishing his water, he chuckled again to himself. Lili would have hated this. Not the exciting part, but the heat and the dirt. Lili, for all she liked her street fights and scrapping, was still quite refined and maybe a little spoiled; she hated being dirty and sweaty.

Well...for most things. She got over it for bedroom activities, he recalled. A tiny smirk played across his lips; it was one he would usually just show to her.

Regardless of how he lived his life now...he was quite glad to be getting another chance to see her.

Sergei stood to go toward the faucet they had connected to the spare water; he refilled his canteen before cleaning the dirt and blood from his arms and hands. There were a few cuts there, as well. He then took the small medical kit and began to clean the nastier knife wounds on his arms so he could dress them. Despite being more adept at killing than healing, he was a professional soldier, and he did know how to handle basic field medicine. None would need stitches; they would leave scars, but he would wear them with all the rest.

One week.

He finished cleaning and sanitizing his wounds; he would bandage them back at the base, after a shower. He kicked his boot against the table again, thinking to himself that cleaning up after battle would be so much easier if men didn't bleed so much.

He looked out the small window of the tent, wondering what sort of situation would be waiting for him in Berlin. He was used to the unexpected.

He checked his watch, seeing that it would be time to get back to the base soon. He grabbed his gear, walking out and throwing it into his large, armored jeep. Thankfully, it was a newer model with air conditioning. Sergei could stay anywhere-snowdrifts, deserts, and everything in between; and he would do so without a single word complaint...not that he spoke much anyway. He simply did not care where he was. He could adapt with frightening ease.

Still, he remembered when someone taught him that perhaps enjoying a comfort now and then wasn't such a bad thing.


	11. Chapter 11

Covert Operations Fenris30 Summary:

* * *

Sergei is gone for a week from his guard duty, and Lili was frustrated. They had already been together for two weeks. She's starting to miss him...

* * *

Notes:

* * *

This was my first 'speed-lemon!' XD Basically done the way my other speed-writes were. Takes place about three weeks after their first encounter in Reticent Watcher, for a timeline. Just good ol' fashioned PWP, nothing more. It was a learning experience since I'm usually quite stringent with my lemons. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

It had been a rather rotten week overall.

Sergei had to go away on a sudden emergency mission; despite working for his family, part of the deal was that for the most important missions, he would be able to leave for them. It was just as well, since Lili was otherwise indisposed this week _anyway,_ so it wasn't like it mattered.

Couple these things with a round of hard, rainy fall weather, the fact she had not had the sexual contact that she was starting to get quite used to over the past month for a week now, and the fact that a couple of her friends were acting like children just made everything pretty lousy overall.

She sighed, also thinking of the biggest thing-if Sergei was okay. She figured he was; he was one of-no, more like _the_ -deadliest person she had ever met by far, and she knew that his enemies would not stand a chance…he would crush them like insects.

Thinking like this sort of got her a little irritated, as well; Lili wasn't the type to catch herself pining. She didn't think she was, but a nagging part of her thought she was. Maybe it was due to all of the other frustration.

Getting annoyed at whatever she was reading online, she decided to go downstairs for a cup of coffee, spiked with something like Irish Creme to maybe chill out with. It would be nice to have on a miserable, chilly and rainy day like this, anyhow. She pulled a loose, open blouse on over the tank top she wore-it was nice enough inside-and started to walk downstairs.

She heard a voice. A deep voice-one that spoke only when it needed. She knew it right away.

 _He made it back._

She decided to keep going as normal, walking down the stairs, nodding politely to him and continuing onto the kitchen. He wore his long rain jacket-made of a sort of oilcloth-along with his fatigues and boots. He nodded back, as if she were just another acquaintance of his. He knew how to keep up appearances.

Inside, she was ecstatic.

She collected her drink from the kitchen and went back up to her room to relax for awhile. She would give it some time-she of course wanted to make sure there were no servants about, or that they would be busy. She wasn't sure if she wanted to wait too long, though.

Lili never thought she would ever be _that_ person, but she wanted to be with him. Very badly.

 _I guess after getting used to it…_

She kept herself occupied with a some books and her laptop for a couple of hours, before checking around, knowing the servants wouldn't be bothering her at this point…most would be busy, and she had let them know earlier that she would be busy around this time. If she told them, they would leave her be, as she was basically a head of the manor.

She wore the same thing as earlier in the day; her gray denim skirt and the tank top, though she had removed the blouse when she was in her room. She knocked at his door.

It only took a few moments for the door to open, and Sergei to step aside, letting her in. He had stripped to the waist and showered; looking around, she saw some books on the desk, an open notebook, and his own laptop. He seemed to be recording some mission logs; she noticed he still did some by hand. Probably to keep extras, or something. Maybe some sort of code, perhaps.

She looked over at him; he locked the door and turned to walk over to her.

"Hi," she said. She smirked a bit, her mood already well on it's way to 'better.'

He touched her face lightly. "You've had a bad week."

 _He is more perceptive than anyone I've met._ "Yes," she sighed.

He tilted her head up, leaning over to kiss her; it quickly deepened and intensified-she always appreciated how he would show her how he felt. Her hands slid around to his back to first massage, and then run her nails down it. He moaned.

Sergei himself had done his duty to his usual high standards, but in the back of his head he sort of looked forward to his return. When he saw her in this outfit-she looked beautiful, as usual-he found himself wanting to get back into their pleasurable habits. He liked what they had going physically.

He deepened the kiss more,his tongue probing around her mouth before pulling back to trace his lips down her jaw and neck. He moved her over to the bed, one of his hands heading over to her thigh and rear. The skirt gave easier access; he was quite pleased about this. He slid her underwear off to toss aside; his hands deftly-despite their size-undid her skirt and pushed it off as well.

Lili giggled; she always liked to see him on the more excited side. Well, excited for him, anyway. She ran her nails down his chest lightly, positioning herself on an angle on the bed to pull him down to kiss him some more. She was getting quite used to his sort of style; how he handled her, how he pleasured her. He was…intense; it was the best way she could think to describe it.

"You seem in a hurry," she said, smirking. She then sat up, to push him over and down instead.

He did so, and she sighed as he felt her hand stroke her hair as she undid his trousers; she kissed down his muscular stomach, stopping for a few moments at his waist. After a bit of teasing, she began to take his length into her mouth-she decided to start things off for a change. She wouldn't take too long here-she wanted to do more with him, and after the week gone she knew he'd probably be ready soon. But she liked doing this. She loved to hear him moan like he did; it was a low, pleasant sound that told her how much he was enjoying it.

She teased the tip with her tongue, sucking lightly at him, allowing her tongue to also trace up and down a moment. She took him deep, listening to him moan slightly louder a moment as she sucked; she teased him with her fingers for a few moment as well. His moan became slightly shaky for just a moment as she tasted a tiny bit of saltiness.

She pulled back finally, teasing him a bit more before starting to stand; Sergei grabbed her, kissing her once-almost roughly-before pushing her down onto the bed and positioning over her, stroking her with two of his fingers. He could have probably pushed into her right then, given how wet she was…but ever since that first night three weeks ago, he had discovered he _quite_ enjoyed going down on her.

He pushed up her tank top and started to nuzzle at her stomach, kissing it awhile before running his tongue over it. His hands ran down her sides and legs again, enjoying the feel of the toned muscle both on her legs and stomach; not large, but very well maintained. He looked up at her, smiling slightly before sliding back up to kiss her again; he then dipped his head low to begin to tease her like he much enjoyed doing. She inhaled deeply at the feel of his lips against her midsection again, only to be followed by his tongue tracing around.

She yelped from the sudden feel of his tongue swirling around her clit as she slid her legs around him, knowing how he enjoyed that. The low moan he let out when she did reiterated that fact.

Sergei had missed Lili, there were no two ways about it. He didn't allow it to get in the way of his duty, but when he saw her again after his return, he felt himself almost…calm. Maybe even relieved, in a way. The two had become quite sexual, visiting each other in their rooms since that first night, but it was perhaps more than that.

He didn't think about it too hard at the moment-right now he was concentrating on what was in front of him. He hoped, after her treatment of him first, that he wouldn't let go too quickly.

Lili moaned a bit louder, though kept enough control as to not give anything away, just in case-the rooms had solid soundproofing, but getting caught like this would not be particularly ideal. Her hand tangled into his soft hair, using it to partially direct him, perhaps. He would follow her lead, in addition to trying some of his own things. She squealed at a few of them; particularly when he would suck at her clit, which he started to do, and rather quickly.

He kept at that until he felt her shudder; he wrapped his arms around her waist as she moaned out in release, giving her long strokes with his tongue until she calmed. He kissed her a few times, resting his forehead against her thigh for a few moments before sitting up. He prepared himself to enter her.

Lili sat up, fully satisfied-he had become very, very good with his tongue. She smiled as he licked his lips.

He then stood, only to have her stand as well to lead him over to the wall; she wanted to try something. He picked her up and move with his back against the wall; her legs wrapped around him as she settled down, moaning as he entered her. He was able to get fairly deep in this position, and she very much liked it; she gave him a squeeze with her legs as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder and began to move up and down.

She counted herself lucky that her activity kept her developed enough to handle a position like this; she was able to use her legs to maneuver around well. She rocked back and forth on him as he held her up; he was so strong it was of no bother to him to hold her there. He did it with seemingly no effort.

His low moan finally almost turned into a soft growl as he nipped at her shoulder; careful to not leave any marks that might get noticed. He continued to hold her as he thrust his own hips forward; he licked his lips for a moment. Between the feel of being inside of her and the fact he could still taste her somewhat on his mouth about drove him over the edge; with one last low moan, he came, speeding up his thrusts as she tightened around him a moment, knowing how much he liked the feel of it.

They eventually stopped, as she disengaged from him; she walked over to the bed to down on the edge of it, panting a bit. _That was intense. Maybe we needed a bit of time off…not that the sex was boring before or anything._

Sergei took a few moments to clean up; Lili was still sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs off. She looked-and felt-very content now. They were fast this time, but they would probably do a more extended session later. He sat on the floor next to her after grabbing the smokeless ashtray-Lili knew how he liked to have one after certain things, namely fighting or sex-and then rest his head against her leg for a moment, one hand stroking her other thigh. Her own hand found his hair as she ran her fingers through it, trying to smooth some of it down. It was out of it's tail, and it looked great like that, she thought.

"I needed that," she chuckled, no longer in any sort of bad mood; quite the opposite. She slid down to the floor to lay across his lap; his hand went over her rear when she did this. She liked to lay like this. She liked how his huge legs felt against her head. She turned over on her back, as he rubbed the scar on his lip for a moment before smirking down at her. To her surprise, he held his huge hand up, open; she slid hers into it as he closed it. He leaned over to give her a single kiss before he leaned back, his head against the bed as he fumbled out a cigarette to light. She chuckled once, enjoying that he actually looked fairly content, or as close to content as Sergei looked.

Which meant he felt very content indeed. He had barely said a word to her, yet she was pretty sure she knew exactly how he felt right now.

Probably the same way she did. She turned her head to look out the window, not needing to say-or hear-anything.


	12. Chapter 12

Silk Commands Iron Fenris30

Summary:

* * *

Lili continues her sort-of-internship, which isn't over until after the new year; still more than a couple of months away. However, danger still lurks...but so does Sergei Dragunov, her bodyguard, now friend...and much more. Continuing the 'Watcher' series.

* * *

Notes:

So this one is the next in the Watcher series(I promise, I'll come up for a name for the series, honest, that is something original and not just named after the first story.) It takes place fairly directly after Tyranny & Grace; Lili is still in Berlin and such on the sort of internship. Only real difference is that it's a bit into autumn, but it's basically just a handful of weeks afterward. It's full of smut and has some good ol' fashioned action and maybe even some plot(and even a whole chapter with JUST PLOT holy shit.)

I'm actually trying a new thing; leaving the chapters untitled. I sort of like the idea leaving them somewhat mysterious.

Anyway as usual-please enjoy! Oh yeah-the first chapter has smut already, so yeah, obligatory smut warning.

* * *

Chapter 1

Lili looked at the pile of work in front of her. If I'd have known I'd be doing this much paperwork, I'd have stayed in classes for the fall.

She stopped herself from that train of thought when she realized that if she had done that, then she wouldn't have had nearly as much fun as she had. Sure, there were the boring meetings, the work and having to deal with strange corporate rules that she didn't quite care about. Then there was the attempt either on her life or a kidnapping-she wasn't quite sure since the perpetrators ended up brutally beaten to death in an alleyway-which added a little spice to the mix.

But, given that she got to practically live with Sergei, she was willing enough to take it. Judging by his general calm mood, he was fairly content as well, or as close to content as the huge man could be. She reckoned he was more content while he was savagely beating an enemy, but she wasn't too sure. Even though they knew each other extremely well, there were things about him that were still shut off. She had very little idea about his past...and she didn't push that matter. He struck her as a man who lived in the present.

She thought that perhaps today she could go do some work at the one cafe; it was just a little ritzy, had good drinks and food, staff that was quite prompt in waiting on her and treating her like the daughter of a CEO should be treated, and top of this was quiet and out of the way. Sergei liked the place as they seemed to remember he drank his coffee with vodka.

Sergei was a man of simple tastes.

She shuffled through the papers some more, annoyed that one particular client would be there; a rather grumpy and impossible to please fifty-something businessman. He actually worked for the company, and never seemed happy; there were times that Lili also got fairly bad vibes from him. She was not afraid he would try anything-she could kick his ass very easily as he knew nothing about fighting-but there was something else that bothered her, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She brushed it aside, though.

Unbeknownst to her, Sergei didn't much like him either, but he kept his opinions to himself. Sergei tended to not be particularly fond of most people in general, though in the end most he was neutral toward; they just existed to him.

She poured another cup of coffee and sat back in the big, comfortable chair in the giant room; she looked out the window before she sat with her laptop. It was cloudy today, and quite chill according to the online thermometer.

She looked at the screen to begin trying to make sense of some of the work. Sometimes she thought this internship would have been a bit more cushy than it was, but she figured the reward was worth the effort.

She was not only speaking of credits or future CEO training, of course.

–

A couple hours had passed, and Lili heard a knock. She opened the door, knowing who it was.

Sergei entered and Lili began to get ready to leave for the cafe. Despite the chill in the air outside-she did have heavier coats and the like-it was warm in here, and she wasn't dressed particularly heavily; a denim skirt, small boots, and a tight sleeveless shirt with a long-sleeve button down one over it. She had leggings she would wear outside in the cold, though she did not have them on yet.

Sergei watched her get ready, enjoying what he saw as usual.

She walked over to him to give him a light kiss on the mouth; he returned it, quickly flicking his tongue over her lips. She giggled, opening her mouth slightly to let him know she did not mind taking a bit of time before she left. He slid his tongue ever so slightly into her mouth, continuing the kiss. It did not take long for both of their breathing to become slightly heavier and the kiss to deepen.

There was no work function today, it was simply paperwork-Lili counted herself glad for that. She figured she could maybe take a bit of time beforehand. The kiss broke; it had been a few days since they had gotten to do anything, and truth be told she was incredibly horny right now.

As she glanced down, she could tell the feeling was mutual. She smiled up at him, running her fingers lightly down the front of his cargoes. Sergei smirked, leading her gently over to the wall for a moment.

He put a hand on the wall and looked down at her as she stood with her back against it; he traced his other down her face as he tilted her head up. His hand then went down her side, tracing up and down. He quite liked when she wore tank tops and other tighter shirts-much like she did with him. Lili's previous quick actions had gotten him very aroused, and he figured she wouldn't mind putting off the cafe trip for awhile. He leaned down to kiss her, still holding her against the wall.

Lili deepened the kiss and liked how he was getting a bit rough right away-she ran her hands up under his sleeveless shirt and ran her nails down his back, as he liked when they started to get more intense. Standing by the wall with him almost blocking her made her feel safe, rather than vulnerable. She did not want him to move.

While she still had fairly coherent thoughts, she thought back to how they ended up; what started as a simple guard job ended up with them experimenting one night...which further ended up with them apparently involved in a strange, monogamous affair. It was one that had no name-but whatever it was, it did not lack in physical pleasure. There was just enough underlying emotion for the both of them, as well-nothing that was ever spoken, but came through in how they touched or simply behaved around one another.

When she felt him nip lightly at her neck-not hard enough to leave any marks so nothing would be given away-she sort of wanted to try something. She knew Sergei well, and when she felt his hands begin to undo her skirt and start to slide off her underwear, she knew what he was signifying. She giggled as she looked down, taking his hair out of it's tail so she could better run her hands through it. She liked when he got like this, as the look in his eyes-and the slight expression changes on his face-told her how much he was enjoying it. She looked over, seeing one of the chairs near the corner-not too far from where they were standing.

She wanted to try something they had tried the first night, but she was unable to stand the entire time because there was nothing to rest her leg on. She nodded toward it, her breathing heavy as she maneuvered the couple of meters over. Sergei stood, looking down at her and smirking; he was a smart man and knew exactly what she was thinking. He had been wanting to try it again this way as well, though he pre-emptively freed himself from his cargoes since he knew that it would be getting very uncomfortable otherwise.

When she was in position, he placed both of his hands on either side of her, looking down as he met her in another deep kiss; his tongue probing around her mouth just how she liked it for some time before he started to suck at her lower lip, her nails running more down his back. She made motions for him to take his shirt off; he did so before returning to bite at her lip instead, just enough to get her moaning and picking up the pace herself.

He looked down as he started to kneel and position himself so he would be somewhat comfortable during this; if he wasn't, it wouldn't matter. He had been in much less comfortable positions, and he did so in much less pleasant situations. The fact he was about to go down on her made him not care what position he was in.

She positioned her leg on the chair-it was much better this way she could tell, as she exhaled with a particularly loud moan; he had turned her on a little more than usual this time, so when she felt his lips touch her center and his tongue begin to trace around her folds it felt quite a bit more intense. He could visibly see how aroused she was, and that just made him push closer, opening his mouth to take her in. His tongue gave long strokes from back to front as he sometimes pulled away to tease her; he moaned low again as her scent and taste sort of overtook him. It was such a good angle-he hoped they would do this again like this if she could remain standing.

Her hands slid into in his hair as she looked down, her lids heavy as she stroked it. She moved her hips in rhythm with his ministrations; this position felt even better this time than the first as they were able to adjust it. All the positions they tried-with whatever they were doing-offered a new sensation; this one seemed to grant him a slightly different access and whatever he did with his tongue as he traced it around felt a little different-but still amazing. She would sometimes rub the back of his neck and between his shoulder blades while she gasped in pleasure.

He moaned quietly again as he continued. He stroked her clit for a few moments with his tongue; she gasped louder and shook for a moment, but the extra balance helped her. Her balance was excellent anyway, and her toned leg was strong enough to hold her without issue if it had been a normal scenario, but with Sergei licking her rather intensely it became alittle more difficult. He decided to nip lightly at her-he knew how much she liked it. He pushed closer, his head matching the rhythm of her hips as he went a little rougher. He repositioned, sitting with his legs off to the side; his size and her height made this about perfect for him to wrap his huge hands around her rear to hold her to his mouth. He traced a finger down the middle a moment before holding her again.

Lili's head hung forward as she looked down at him again; the two were intertwined at this point in an incredibly intense and intimate moment and despite the waves of pleasure, it caused her to smile slightly. When he looked up, the expression in his eyes was familiar; she knew what he was thinking. She ran her hand through his hair again as she moaned out loudly as he began to flick his tongue toward her clit for awhile; pulling back a bit. His mouth was wet; she chuckled weakly as she felt him kiss at her thigh a moment before moving back to where he was.

He knew she was on the brink; he teased her a little to prolong it, but as she began to rub his head more and shiver he wanted to bring her over. He moved a hand around to her stomach to massage it as he rolled his tongue against her clit, holding the other on her rear. Lili gasped-moaning much louder than she wanted to in this new position-as she let go, bending over forward more as she rubbed the back of his head. This was nothing new for her at this point-they had been together like this a lot, but it felt...natural to her. Her waves of pleasure almost had a comforting feel.

Even now as he pulled away, his touch-and his kisses around her thighs and midsection-had a feel to them that sort of let her know what he was thinking. He smirked up at her, pausing to kiss her stomach.

He didn't know when he decided he liked physical contact with her this much, nor did her care. For him, it was more than just mere physical pleasure. It made him feel sort of still connected with his more human side; the side he had buried deep long ago.

He looked up at her, licking his lips several times before laying back. Lili moved her leg down, quite happy she got to feel it against the wall-it felt wonderful. She would have to do that again. She looked down at him as she motioned for him to take his trousers off; positioning herself on top of him she planted kisses on his tip,before moving her legs back over his head. His low moan made her giggle to herself; while she tried a new position just now, she wanted to go back to one of their favorites.

Mutual foreplay may have been one of their favorite activities.

Lili took him slowly into her mouth; she liked to tease him. Sucking lightly at the head, stroking low with her hand, she listened for his low moan to turn into an almost growl; this was when she knew she was starting to drive him particularly mad. She gasped herself as she felt his tongue begin to stroke her again; from front to back, passing lightly over her clit. She was quite soaked from his pleasure.

She gasped a bit louder when she felt his tongue begin to trace back a little further than she was used to; quite a bit further. She almost laughed while she moaned; this was a new feeling. Not an unpleasant one, mind you.

Sergei chuckled, wanting to try out a few...newer things. Lili's cleanliness was impeccable; every part of her body was kept as clean as humanly possible. Everything on her was game for Sergei, and he was taking advantage. He teased her back and forth; his hands running over her rear and legs as she tried desperately to concentrate on her own task, but this small curve ball thrown sort of distracted her. He ran his tongue forward again to collect some of her taste to bring back again, teasing her a little more further back. Her gasping, almost surprised moans made him smirk to himself; clearly she enjoyed this.

After a time of teasing her this new way-obviously something he would have to try again at some point judging by her reactions-he slid his tongue back down to her center, sliding it inside of her to thrust quickly. She moaned out, picking up where she left off again once she was able to concentrate. She took him as deeply as she could, teasing him low underneath with her fingers, causing him to growl low again as she sped up. She wanted to go all the way, so she would take him to the brink. She would have to be careful not to send him over.

Sergei wanted to make her come again, though; he wanted her taste in his mouth one more time this session. He sucked at her clit quickly, knowing that this was one way he could easily do it; his tongue continued to poke around inside of her here and there. Feeling her shudder against him, he pulled her close as she pulled back from his member; she simply lay over him and let the familiar-and wonderful-feeling wash over her. She moaned out quietly, moving her hips a little time time with his movements.

Lili often thanked whatever might be out there that Sergei picked up the sexual habits that he did. Really, this one isn't going anywhere. I don't care if it's just an affair.

She rolled off of him, flushed and chuckling a bit from the extra experimentation that he tried; she had to say she liked it. He smirked down at her as he sat up, preparing himself to enter her before wiping his mouth again-the way he could get her off these days could leave him quite messy.

He sat against the bed to let her sit on him; she liked this position as it felt like it gave her better control and how deep he could get. She kissed him deeply, taking his lip into her mouth this time to suck and bite at it; his moans-and the fingers that raked gently down her back-told her how he felt.

The intensity of their session this time was much higher, but they both seemed to enjoy it; she rode him harder than normal, her forehead pressed to his as he leaned his head up to kiss her again. He felt particularly close to her right now, and was quite fine with that.

As he thrust forward, he nipped a little harder at her lip than he meant to; though she did not mind at all at this moment. He came with his tell-tale low moan, Lili continuing to drive her hips toward him, her legs squeezing him slightly on either side, until he finished. She kissed him one last time-both of their lips almost ever so slightly red-and pulled off of him, sitting by the bed next to him. She adjusted her tank top-she hadn't gotten a chance to take it off-and looked over at him, fully naked. He looked over and smirked a bit himself.

It's these moments that I sometimes don't want to end, she thought. She dreaded this time him having to go away again, but she had several more weeks on this internship, and her father had paid his superiors for the long period of time. He could have to leave on emergency business still, but she tried not to think about that.

He stood up, Lili staring up at his enormous legs. She ran one of her hands up them, smiling. Lili was a dancer; she knew how to appreciate a set of legs that looked like that. He helped her up, raising his eyebrow in his usual manner.

–

After they had cleaned up and gotten somewhat dressed-Lili simply throwing on underwear and Sergei his trousers, she sat next to him as he went to the chair by the balcony door to smoke. It was cold out now; he simply liked to look out the window.

He always did this, and it amused her. She joked that she could set her clock by his after-sex cigarette. Sergei reacted as he usually did to humor...he smirked at her and snorted laughter.

It was quite endearing, in her opinion.

He looked over at her, looking her up and down as he would. She stood in front of him.

"That...little thing you did."

He shrugged, chuckling a couple of times.

She smiled. "I like it. The wall, too..." It was one of the better feelings she had; she loved how intertwined they ended up as he pleasured her. As he sat, he was able to get a perfect position with his arms around her waist and his mouth buried well into her midsection. It felt altogether bonding-and incredibly hot-to her.

His smile took on a slightly evil tone, letting her know that it would most likely happen again. "Going out later?"

She nodded. "I should get some of that paperwork done at the cafe."

"I will be there."

"You work for me, you better be." She folded her arms. She loved teasing him.

He looked at her as he took another drag of his smoke. The smirk remained on his face as he held out his hand. She took it, still standing in front of him. He ran his fingers over it, still in silence. She smiled. Anytime he showed affection like this, it meant something to her.

"You can say something," she said. "It's not like you've talked much today." Not that he actually ever spoke much, of course, but he seemed to say a little less than usual.

He looked at her as he took another drag of his cigarette.

"I'm glad I'm here," he said.

Lili blinked, before smiling. To hear him say that...I wonder he's ever been glad about anything in his life.

She found herself not wanting to leave this day, as she sort of wanted to keep this moment going.

I guess I'm lost for words again.


	13. Chapter 13

Lili sat back in the chair, her laptop off to the side and her hands behind her head. She was in the process of watching Sergei care for all of his gear.

Being one of the best soldiers the military had ever seen-if not the best, Sergei always took excellent care of his equipment. He had already made sure his Kevlar vest was free of tears or damage; it would occasionally get nicked in a fight and it had to stay in good shape. It was just fine as Sergei was quite good at avoiding damage, though he would take wounds, mostly to his arms; they were usually more vulnerable in fights when the weather was warm and wore lighter clothing. He didn't mind the scars.

Then he had cleaned and polished both of his sets of boots; the tall and heavy jackboots-which he used more for dress duty or slightly more formal situations, though he could fight in them easily-and his thick-treaded, steel reinforced combat boots, which he wore most of the time.

He was cleaning his sidearm now, after pausing to light a cigarette; it now hung from the corner of his mouth. It was a GSh-18, a Russian made handgun. He rarely used it, but he always kept it on his person when he was out, just in case he could not get to an enemy in time before something bad happened. It was disassembled on the table and he went about methodically cleaning all of the pieces, one by one. The ammunition was off to the side. Off in the corner was his AK-47, though he had not used that in a long time. She suspected he would still look it over.

Lili watched intently. She had never fired a gun before. Her family had some guns on the wall, and Sebastian had been hunting and clay pigeon shooting in his younger years, but she had never fired any. She never really had much of an interest before, but she was curious now. She didn't think the AK would suit her, but she was interested in the handgun. Sergei noticed her interest.

"Have you fired a gun?" he asked, continuing his cleaning.

"Not before. We've had some old ones on the walls."

"I noticed. Nice models." Sergei may not have used firearms unless he had to-he would of course use whatever tool was necessary for the job-but he did enjoy them. He looked over at her, taking the cigarette out for a moment to blow out a stream of smoke. "Would you like to learn?"

She thought for a moment. She actually would. Truth be told, while she was very confident in her fighting skills-and those only got better over time, especially with the odd things Sergei would teach her-some of those security guards were more like mercenaries; armed individuals whom she sort of wouldn't mind knowing how to use something heavier against, even if it was just a handgun.

"I think so. It might be nice. I guess there are places around to practice?"

He nodded. "There are known to be indoor ranges in bigger cities."

"We have the more formal dinner tonight, but some other day?"

He nodded, finishing up the cleaning before reassembling it. "This gun is easy to handle. We can start you on it."

She looked over at the AK in the corner. "Maybe better than that one."

He chuckled. He had reassembled it while they spoke, so he holstered it and put it aside. He then began to clean and sharpen his knife. He prepared a stone he took from a small bag with a bit of liquid, and started to run the knife over it. The soft scraping sound it made against the stone-he did it by hand in the traditional manner, rather than use a more mechanical method-was actually sort of comforting.

Lili watched him do it, the scene actually sort of relaxing her. The cigarette in his mouth again, he held the stone there as he dragged the large knife across it. It had some jagged edges she noticed; notches, a big groove, and a slightly curved tip. It was made of what looked to be a dark gray steel rather than a bright silver. The grip looked older and slightly worn, though still quite nice; the blade, while also kept in excellent condition, also looked a bit older, and it had obviously seen use. She knew that most of the soldiers carried much more high-tech knives; she had seen the ones her other guards had.

"That knife is older."

Sergei nodded, looking up at her as he finished the cigarette, stubbing it out before going back to the blade.

"Why don't you use a newer one? Like the ones I've seen?"

He looked up at her again, a tiny smirk appearing in the corner of his mouth. He scraped the knife over the stone some more. "The man who scarred me owned this before."

She knew what had happened to him; he had told the story to her one night, way back at the manor. "You took it from him."

"He wasn't using it anymore. I simply had the grip changed to fit my hand."

She chuckled. His sense of humor was dry, sometimes even heading toward the gallows side of things, but it could come out. "A trophy. Or reminder."

"Both," he said, as he kept going. "I use this when I need it. It has served me well enough."

"Your gun is a bit older, too."

He nodded.

"Where did you get it?" She rarely got to scratch into his past; once in awhile. When the chance came up-or more that she noticed he was willing to discuss it-she would try.

"When I was promoted. I was eighteen."

She smiled. She was afraid she got him to talk so much these past few minutes he might not talk again all week. She enjoyed these rare moments, though. She liked when he would open up to her, even if it was just a little. Plus, she still loved to hear his voice. It was deep-a resonant baritone, to be specific-and very nice to her ears.

After a few more moments, he tested the knife, satisfied with its edge. He then oiled it and sheathed it again before placing the stone away. She smiled at him.

"I like how that sounds."

He smirked over at her, shifting his position as he began to gather his things. "I used to relax myself with it."

"I can see how it would work." She tried to imagine what the young Sergei would need to relax himself over. Even in combat nowadays he never seemed angry. Terrifying, yes. Utterly brutal and unforgiving, yes. Would crush an enemy's skull without changing expression, sure. But he was never angry when he did any of this, or at least he never looked angry. He may have been, inside. "Is that why you don't use a mechanical sharpener?"

He nodded.

Truth be told, when the hired mercenaries went after Lili and her family, he was angry, but he was able to compose himself...though he would add an extra bit of brutality above and beyond what he was known for in his kills, he noticed. Maybe to send a clearer message...maybe it was more.

In the older days, he was much surlier; he was still silent, but he had much more of a temper on him. After the incident when he was sixteen, most people steered well clear of him, but he would still end up in fights. After he was reprimanded by his superiors, he would go back to his quarters angry still as the others would start with him first; he simply answered in a brutally extreme way. He would take the knife out and sharpen it, and the sound would soothe him.

He stood, walking over to her to brush his hand down her face. There was something else that could soothe him now, though he never said. He figured he didn't have to. She touched his hand, looking up.

"Would you tell me more sometime?"

"Perhaps," he answered, though his tiny smile said he probably would. "What time are we leaving?"

"Around five."

He nodded, leaning down to give her a light kiss on the mouth. He would have liked to have done more, but they were running a bit short on time and he knew she could take quite awhile to get ready for more formal functions.

"Don't be late," she said, smirking.

He nodded once, the tiny smile never leaving his face as he walked out the door.

–

After showering and preparing, Lili finally walked out of the enormous bathroom, fully dressed. She had on a blue sort of evening dress; low cut, short, and sheer. With it she had some long, black gloves, though she had not put these on yet. Her stockings were a light gray-a neutral tone that could match with the blue-and she chose black high-heels to wear with these. She had a black shawl that could drape over her shoulders to appear more discreet. Her hair was washed and perfectly brushed; she had tied it into a very loose double-tail so it did not get in the way.

Lili did enjoy splurging when she had to dress up. She added a rather expensive set of earrings and a necklace to the outfit. Looking at herself in the mirror-she had her makeup done perfectly as well-she saw that she did look fucking hot. She was not afraid to admit it.

She heard a knock; she went to open the door, knowing it would be her 'escort'.

Sergei was standing there, of course. He took one look at her and cleared his throat. She smirked, walking in side to prepare a few more things. She had to stop and stare a bit at him, as well.

He had on his formal dress outfit tonight; even the bodyguards and the like would be dressed, as the very expensive and ritzy restaurant had a dress code. He had on his embroidered jacket-two eagles adorned it- his belt, and matching trousers. The uniform was dark green and the accents were gray; it went rather nicely with her darker blue, she thought. He did not wear a hat at the moment, but had his furred hat she knew he could put on in cooler weather. His huge jackboots were polished well from earlier, and he had a pair of leather gloves tucked into his belt; he often did not wear them inside. His white shirt was crisp, and his tie perfectly straight. His hair was pulled back in the small tail as usual, with a few of the pieces still hanging down, though it was immaculately clean.

Christ, he looks good in his dress outfit. She loved to see him in anything-or nothing, of course-and she did feel that one of her favorite looks was his dangerous one in his field outfit; where he looked ready to kick someone's head in. But seeing him in this made her almost want to do something rather bad right now, though she knew they really shouldn't, lest hair, clothes, and gods know what else get a bit messed up.

Sergei licked his lips; he was thinking the same thing in the back of his head as he looked her up and down; he often did not get to see her in full formal wear. She liked to make herself look good as she had that vanity to her, but he had not gotten to go to many full-on formal places with her. He had self-control at least, and lots of it. This was one of those moments where he was thankful for it.

She took her coat, but Sergei offered to take it from her and help her into it. She let him, chuckling. His own jacket was off to the side; a long, dark green coat with a furred collar.

"Being a gentleman tonight?"

He smirked at her, an eyebrow raising. For now, his expression seemed to say. Lili giggled. His sense of humor could run to the slightly perverted as well, though only with her. Regardless of what humor he would use, it was subtle.

He offered his arm to her. The military was good at teaching proper etiquette.

Lili smiled, thinking that after the dinner tonight she may have to stay up later than she originally planned.

"I hope tonight isn't too boring," she said.

Sergei just chuckled as he walked her down the hallway.

They arrived down the stairs, Alain letting them into the limo. Lili looked out the window at the darkening sky.

Boring people or not, this internship was so worth it.


	14. Chapter 14

The gun had a tiny bit of kick, but it wasn't too bad at all. Sergei said he had only loaded 9mm rounds, so it was fairly easy to handle. Even for an amateur like Lili, it wasn't much of an issue.

The two of them were at a shooting range; they indeed had them about the city, and they were easy enough to get into. Sergei had given Lili a rundown of the gun, it's parts, and basic safety; he then showed her how to fire. She blanked out a bit about the parts, but did, to her credit, pay full attention to safety and operation and took over from there. She emptied a couple of the eighteen-round clips so far, though not all of them even hit the target. A fair amount did, however, and a few even scattered close to the center. She scowled a bit before ejecting the clip and loading a new one in just as he taught her.

"I'll get this," she said, a stubborn tone to her voice.

Sergei smirked, his arms folded as he leaned against the wall next to her.

She brought the pistol up again in the pose he had taught her; first making sure that her arms were relaxed-she made the mistake of holding them too stiff now and again-she fired again. While the first three ended up hitting further parts of the target, two more managed to hit more toward the center. She smiled at him.

"Told you," she said.

Sergei's eyebrow went up. "Try again."

She glared at him a little-letting him know that surely she could do it again-and fired off a few more; these shots went a little off, but then she managed to get two more placed well.

Sergei went over to her, examining her work. "That is very good for a first try."

She smiled at him. "I learn fast."

"We can come back again."

She looked over at another clip. "One more?"

He smirked, stepping aside again to watch her form. Truth be told, he was checking out more than her firing form, but that was a bygone conclusion.

–

They had stayed at the range for about a half an hour more before going back.

She sipped a cup of coffee while looking out the window. She was quite proud of her accomplishments the first time at the range today. She sort of liked it. She considered getting one; she wondered if Sergei would secure one for her. Her father would probably be none too happy, but she could keep it hidden. He may not mind so much if he knew it would keep her safe, though he probably would not like the idea of her using it to shoot someone with. He would prefer her to shoot someone and live, for sure, and he was willing enough to hire Sergei-who he knew was a killer, so maybe he wouldn't be so bad with it. She didn't think she would be able to point the trigger in anger at someone, though, the more she thought about it. She really didn't know. She did not like the idea of it, but she also wanted to stay safe.

Sergei walked over to her, having spent some time showing her how to assemble, disassemble, and clean the weapon. He looked out the window as well. He had finished his coffee, spiked with vodka as he liked in the evening. He was a big man with a very high tolerance; she wondered how much vodka it would take to start to get him drunk. She started to imagine Sergei drunk and had to chuckle. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised, but said nothing.

Lili looked over. "Stay here tonight?"

Sergei nodded, smirking. He liked being able to stay the night-he could not do that back at the manor; not for the whole night, anyway. Just a few hours. He didn't do it much here, for discretion purposes, but he felt tonight would not be too big a deal.

She finished her drink and went to go get changed into something more comfortable, which consisted of a tank top and underwear. Sergei himself only had on his cargoes. She figured the clothing didn't really matter at this point.

She took awhile to do a few necessary things on her laptop, watching Sergei out of the corner of her eye. He was definitely paying more attention to her than he was to what was going on outside. She took the hint, though she was secretly trying to just hang on herself as she wrote out an email that she needed to. She was amused that he went from a man who barely thought about sex to a man who seemed to be quite efficient at instigating it, at least where she was involved.

Lili stood, stretching for a moment. She simply slid her meager clothing off and climbed onto the bed. Sergei was fairly pleased that she was being so forward.

He slid his own trousers off, getting into the bed next to her; she immediately turned over to kiss him, allowing her hands to run over his torso, and then down to his legs, where they stayed for awhile. The kiss intensified quickly. They were incredibly horny at this moment, and hadn't had a night of more traditional bed-sex in some time; they were usually either experimenting with other positions or just wanting to get into it so quickly they dropped wherever they were.

Sergei sat up, pulling her up a bit, dipping his head to run his tongue over a breast; he drew it into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it as she gasped. He reached back to take his hair down, tossing aside the band. Holding her up to kiss her again, Lili mused she sort of liked being handled like this by him. She always felt a bit small next to him, but when he did this, he felt even more massive. He kissed softly down her neck and back up again; he was being quite attentive with his hands and mouth tonight.

After a time of him kissing her in various areas, mostly on her upper body, he turned her around to set her on her knees; she squealed when she felt him kiss down her lower back. She sort of forgot what that little...trick he did felt like and realized she was about to be reminded.

He just wanted to try again at a new angle; even if but for a few moments, enough to tease her and to get her even more wet. She was already aroused, but he liked to drive her mad before bringing her over the edge. It left her much more satisfied when he did that, in any case. He leaned down, nuzzling her leg and massaging her rear with one of his hands; she did have about a perfect rear end, very well toned. Lili had been quite effective in getting Sergei to appreciate the female form; it may have only been her form, but he certainly appreciated it. A lot.

She yelped out at the familiar feeling; she would have found this absolutely filthy before he had entered her life-despite the fact she had perfect grooming and cleansing habits-and probably would have slapped a guy who even suggested it. There were many things she may have slapped or even punched a guy over before Sergei had come along.

She gasped in pleasure as she felt his tongue barely brushing over her sensitive spots; he would bring it forward, tasting some of her wetness before tracing it back. He moved a hand around to tease her opening with his fingers for a short while before slipping his tongue back again. His free hand traced up and down her thigh, loving how the skin felt. Flushing, she dropped her head toward the pillow and re-positioned herself slightly; she felt so open to him...but she didn't mind this fact. His hair tickled her as it brushed against her skin as he continued his fun.

After a time of teasing her very intimate area, he leaned forward to lick toward her now-soaked center again; she yelped out much louder when she felt him swirling his tongue around her clit from behind. It was slightly different than when they would mutually pleasure one another, and it felt rather wonderful. He kept this up for awhile, pushing close to stroke her clit with his tongue lightly, causing her to squirm and grab the pillow. She tried to push into him more; she wanted to feel his usual rougher ministrations.

Finally he brought his tongue back to her rear again to tease a few more moments-he was quite enjoying her shaking moans and and writhing body-before gently turning her onto her back, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her soaked midsection close to his mouth. He began to give her long kisses up and down for some time, before going onto his usual heavier pleasuring. Lili moaned out loudly when she felt him begin to thrust his tongue deeply into her; she also mused-with what little thoughts she had left-that it had been awhile since he had given her head in a more traditional position.

It still felt just as good, as to her it was less the position and more what he was doing. He was pressed into her, moving his head in rhythm with her hips; his tongue licked furiously at her. She was so wet right now from everything that he actually felt like he could keep going like this for awhile before he got her off. He would open his eyes now and again to stare up her body; she was so pretty when she was being pleasured. Or at any other time, of course.

Bringing his tongue to her clit to circle it, faster and faster, he decided it was time; he lost track of how long he was down there, but he was ready. Her thrusts, moans, and gasps told him she was well pleased by now; her hands in his hair still massaged his head. She released with a louder gasp as he sucked on her clit a moment; he finished her off with long, slow strokes of his tongue as she calmed.

He kissed her mound and thighs as he would, resting his head against her, kissing her a few times. She loved the look he would get looking up at her, and he did this more often. He almost looked just as content as she did after she would climax. She sat after a few moments of recovery, chuckling again at how wet he was. He often got this way, but for some reason it was forever somewhat amusing to her. Perhaps since she never thought he would have been that type; he was so proper and stoic the rest of the time, seeing him in that condition was simply funny to her. She smoothed some of his hair down as she began to lightly rake her nails down his chest.

There were a couple of things she wanted to try, as well.

She pushed him back as he sat, supporting himself on one hand as he stroked her hair; she immediately began to tease him. He was, as one could have expected, incredibly aroused right now. She usually began teasing him by taking the tip of his nicely-sized member into her mouth; which she did, gently sucking at it and teasing it with her tongue. She heard him moan low as he would when she did this.

She then slid her hand between her legs to fondle him...but let a finger trace back a ways. She didn't go all the way, but right back enough to a particularly sensitive spot behind.

She was curious to know how he felt about such things. Judging by the sudden sucking in of his breath and the ever so slightly surprised look on his face, he may have found it interesting, at least. The low moan that followed as she took him deeply into her mouth, sucking gently at him as her tongue ran up and down-told her that whatever she was doing, he was enjoying perfectly well.

Sergei looked down, thrusting his hips slightly toward her, a smirk appearing on his face as she used a slim finger to tickle the small sensitive part right behind his member. He normally would not have even tried this ever...but with Lili he was a little willing to enjoy something a bit offbeat. For him, anyway. The two weren't the type to get into weird things. This wasn't even particularly weird.

He leaned back as she drew her hand back up to stroke his huge legs; she so loved how these felt. She sucked at him more quickly, pulling back to tease his head just a bit more with her lips and tongue; she stopped finally so he would not go all the way yet. She did begin to kiss his stomach a bit for a few moments before sitting up, her hands still stroking his legs.

Sergei quickly stood to prepare himself; rather than go down back onto the bed, he picked Lili up and positioned him on her as he stood there. He kissed her a few times before nuzzling her neck, allowing his tongue to dash over it as he thrust, the low moaning sound coming from his chest. Lili gasped as she helped; her legs kept around him as she rode him as they stood; it took only a short while before she felt him nip at her shoulder again as he came. He held her tighter as he did so; she felt his body shiver a few times in orgasm. His heavy breathing told her he was probably almost in pain from everything beforehand and was quite relieved. He tilted his head up as he slid out of her, smirking.

I guess it worked, she thought, chucking to herself.

–

They actually lay in bed together, under the covers this time. The lights in the huge room were dim, but the blinds were open to allow the outside light in. The giant flat took up the top three floors of the high-rise so street lights weren't really around, but there were lights outside on the balconies.

Lili turned toward Sergei, who had smoked his usual cigarette already and come back to the bed. Neither wore any clothing.

"We have that dinner tomorrow."

He nodded.

"Apparently it's private. This is new."

Sergei shrugged. His job was to sit next to Lili and look like he was ready to kill someone, which he basically did by existing. "Sensitive information, perhaps."

She chuckled and nodded. "It sounds boring, in any case."

He smiled slightly at her. He had a tiny soft spot for when she would act like the slightly spoiled, rich young lady that he first met at times. Insomuch that he had a soft spot. When she would act like this-or shoot annoyed looks at waiters who brought her the wrong thing, or doormen who failed to open the door properly-he somehow found it sort of endearing.

He would never tell anyone these things, of course. Lili had a feeling since she became quite good at reading him, but she said nothing.

She slid toward him, very pleased he was staying tonight. He looked at her a moment, kissing her several times on the mouth before motioning for her to turn over. She did...and was surprised when he slid his arms around her, entwining his massive legs with hers and resting his chin on top of her head.

Lili was almost shocked. Spooning? Is he actually...spooning? With all the times they had been together, and even slept together, he had never done this. She had fallen asleep on top of him, or under his arm, or with her head on his lap...but this was a first.

She smiled contentedly. She didn't expect this to happen again, but she didn't much care.

I'll take it.


	15. Chapter 15

The dinner would indeed be a little different tonight.

The restaurant was reserved, as it was to be a sort of private affair; she would be there, along with Sergei, some business people, and some security guards. The staff seemed to be a private staff as well; Lili heard they would have to discuss some more discreet matters, though she didn't quite understand what waiters would gain from hearing this. She supposed they may have been dealing in some sort of secret oil deals, though she wondered why they would want an intern for that sort of thing. She chalked it up to her father having set it up; he did do things like that, only to explain later in an email. He could be busy on his own and occasionally got a bit overzealous in what sorts of jobs he handed to Lili to do.

At least he trusts me, she thought, mildly annoyed.

It was not fully formal, at least. It took place at a better establishment, though most of the people seemed to be in business casual. Lili didn't mind these; she had gotten to dress up nicely at the one just a few days ago-and reap some rather nice 'rewards' after the fact, so to speak-but she was a bit on the lazy side today, having had a busy week. She didn't mind throwing on more casual clothing.

Sergei had come a little better protected, in his rougher field gear. He still wore a sleeveless shirt-the scars looked highly intimidating-but he had added his Kevlar vest over it. It actually was a rather discreet vest; he had a heavier one, but this one was fairly slimline. He really did make anything look good, and there was still something hot about him looking like he was ready to kill. She never did figure it out.

She caught him in training shorts once, and that had been nice to look at as well.

Lili, enjoying her fashion and having just gone shopping a couple of days before-had chosen a slightly sportier business-type of look, though it fell on the side of 'sportier' and you sort of had to squint at the 'business' part of the equation. She chose lower-cut boots with smaller heels, and she had taken to denim skirts lately. She thought she caught Sergei eyeing her a bit more when she wore them. She liked them a lot anyway, and the fact she thought that Sergei had to at least fight somewhatto keep his composure in public when she wore them was just a small added bonus. He always did-Sergei Dragunov did not lose composure, ever; but she sort of liked making him fight just a little for it...once in awhile, at least.

It was topped off with a sleeveless, tight shirt; though the collar went up a bit higher, and she was able to wear a long-sleeved shirt over it to make it look nicer. She wore a nice coat; it was colder out now, so it was time. It was a dark gray color, longer, and quite stylish. Sergei wore his fur-collared army green longcoat...and with his current outfit she almost had to stop herself from sort of going after him. It would not have been seemly for the future CEO to be caught in the coatroom with her huge, creepy bodyguard...or that was how most of them thought of him. She could almost see the men squirm when he looked at them.

The small courses came and went; the food was quite good, all told. The chat was boring. Sergei would occasionally go to have a cigarette in the smoking area; she knew he used this time to keep an eye on other things around.

Two of the men had gotten up to excuse themselves before the meeting was over. She figured it happened; perhaps they had other duties to attend to. When the third and forth went a bit too suddenly, however, she began to find it curious...and she felt Sergei on edge. She looked at him; the look in his eyes told her to stay prudent.

Something began to feel very wrong.

Sergei himself went into tonight thinking something was amiss; though he simply told Lili to watch herself as always. He noticed that she was a bit more perceptive tonight, as well. He wasn't sure why at first, but later on he had chalked it into making the place private for what seemingly was a routine meeting. Also, the waiters-who he had not seen here before-disappearing was the final straw.

A set-up, he thought...somewhat angrily, but more at himself. I should have seen it earlier.

The only men left were various suited types around; looking more like bodyguards...he realized they were hired thugs or mercenaries. Three by one door, and three near the other wall. Two more came out from the kitchen area. They had sent eight; thinking this would be enough to take care of one man and his charge. Lili swallowed hard, looking over at Sergei.

Sergei looked out of the corner of his eye-his expression told Lili what she needed to know.

Be careful, it said.

She eyed the ones near the kitchen-there were two, and positioned in such a way she thought she could approach them fairly easily.

Sergei moved with a flash, grabbing a chair in his right hand and flinging it toward the three near the other door. She was surprised when the huge man moved as fast as he did; even though she had witnessed it several times, it was usually still a surprise.

Despite the chair's weight, it flew with ease; she still wondered where his strength came from. It hit them, bowling them over and stunning them long enough for him to take off toward them; one near the end managed to get up easily, only to be struck with a swinging fist to the temple and knocked to the side; Sergei grabbed his head in his massive hands before glaring at him and twisting his arms violently, snapping his neck clean as he threw him aside. Lili could tell his neck wasn't only snapped; it seemed the only thing holding his head on his shoulders was skin and muscle.

She was starting to get better with it; at this point she was no longer even surprised.

One started to stand; the one still under the chair was a bit more dazed, however. Lili suspected a couple of his ribs were broken at least and the wind knocked out of him. Sergei stood over him and brutally stomped him not once, but twice directly in the face; the first strike was followed with a grotesque crunching sound and a large spray of blood; the second with an even worse sound and even more blood, and you didn't need to look at him too hard to tell his skull was crushed. She suspected the first hit alone had killed him as she had seen him kill a man in a single blow before, though Sergei was never one to take chances. Lili could see something leaking from the remains; and it was a lot more than blood. She didn't look at his face too long, though it wasn't like you could see anything except for the mask of gore. She thought if he had smashed down one more time he would have obliterated it into tiny pieces.

The other man had been a bit close by and had seen the whole thing-he had quite a bit of the man's blood spatter on him as well. He twitched in what might have been terror when he saw the remains.

I guess this is where they say he is the symbol of terror on the battlefield...

Sergei grabbed him by the head, hauled him up, and rammed it once into the wall before driving it into his knee three times; Lili suspected he wasn't in too good a shape either at the amount of blood that flew. He dropped him to the ground, limp.

All of this had only taken mere moments. The men near the kitchen had not began to move yet-but the men from the far end did. Lili sprang into action, leaping onto the tables, flipping onto another, and coming around with a hooking kick to the side of one's head; the surprise, coupled with the momentum and Lili's well developed legs caused him to fly fairly well off to the side and onto the ground. He was dazed for sure, moving sluggishly. She knew he was not a direct threat for a moment and turned toward the man that was; she jumped up onto his shoulder blades with both feet before jumping off, kicking him away in the nape of his neck, and landing gracefully. He fell face down to the ground, nearly unconscious; he was barely moving, but he was breathing and definitely alive.

Sergei looked over; for the first time, she saw him smirk at her during combat...almost evilly, mixed with a bit of that pride that he had.

Lili ran over next to him; Sergei stopped to finish off the two knocked senseless; he did not want them to come to and grab a weapon. He simply crushed one's neck under his gore-spattered combat boot and broke the other's neck with a twist of his equally bloody hand.

Lili flinched a bit at this; she sort of enabled that. Am I a part of their deaths?

She didn't think too long, though; the last three were coming-and they faced them together for the first time.

Lili ducked very low; her flexible body was able to duck under many attacks. The man who was coming in ended up missing as she came up with with a knife-hand under his chin; a bit of blood came from his mouth, possibly from biting his tongue from the blow. This dazed him long enough for her to strike him in the chest with both hands in a short, sharp blow. This took the wind from him as she swept him down; she jumped back long enough for Sergei to strike him in the temple with a vicious spinning kick as he was on his knee. She heard a crunch and saw more blood fly; she knew this killed him. His neck was at an odd angle too, if the bits of skull that had likely been embedded in his brain from the kick hadn't done the job, his spine being smashed certainly would have.

Lili did not know what to think-she knocked the man into Sergei, who finished him. She didn't think about it too hard still. Wait until the fight is over.

Sergei dashed toward the one of the remaining two, while Lili the other; Lili lifted her leg high to come down with a sort of axe kick that smacked him in the top of his head; it staggered him as she stepped around to follow with two graceful yet powerful backflips; one of the kicks missed, while she felt another smack him in the nose, clearly breaking it from the sound; the other struck his shoulder, putting him to his knees, blood streaming down his face. Lili stepped back, coming around with a spinning knee to the side of his head which knocked him to the ground, unconscious. There was a bit of blood on her knee and hand from his broken nose.

She turned to see Sergei driving his knee into the man's stomach before getting him in a headlock and pulling forward; the snap was audible.

She saw a large knife wound; it went clear down his bare arm and almost to his shoulder. She blinked.

He had gone after the armed one.

He must have seen it; she did not. The wound was bleeding quite a bit, but she figured he had taken worse. It still bugged her, though.

She stood aside; knowing what was coming. She didn't know how he would do it, but it seemed a quick heel to the back of the neck finished him off. He was not as terribly bloody with this one, though it still sounded quite nasty.

They heard something; looking over, there had apparently been a ninth man...who was now scrambling to escape. Lili simply stepped back to go collect her things; she was quite surprised of how blasé she had become to the things Sergei did to the Zaibatsu, their mercenaries, or anyone hired by them.

She didn't need to look to see what happened. She had a bit of thinking to do on her own, but first she was going to insist that Sergei take care of that wound properly. He did go over to one of the sinks in the bathroom-the workers at the restaurant were nowhere to be found-to clean up a bit. Lili turned out much better, though she still washed her hands and her knee off from hitting the two in the face. This had happened to her in tournaments before, so it wasn't too big a deal.

There wasn't much to be done for Sergei until he got home; his hands and arms were cleaned fairly well, but as per usual after a fight, he looked like he butchered something.

She looked over at him after she was done. "That man. The one I had been bothered about. I think it was him."

Sergei nodded. He knew exactly the one she was talking about, as he felt the same way.

"Have they infiltrated the company?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I will report to your father tonight."

Lili shivered. The company was supposed to feel safe. She hoped that this was a one-off thing.

As they walked out-heading out the back way after grabbing their coats and Sergei calling into headquarters about the incident so it could be taken care of-something came over Lili. She didn't know if it was adrenaline, or everything that happened. She didn't know if it was the fact they just fought side by side-legitimately-for the first time. She didn't know if it was stress actually reaching a sort of point with her, or not.

She stopped for a moment to turn Sergei toward her to kiss him, and deeply. Even though they were out in public, though she was usually afraid of this; however, they were quite out of the way. She would never figure out what came over her at that moment. She suspected-later on that night-that it was just stress, that she needed contact with the person whom she most cared about right now, regardless of what they were. It could have been that she noticed how he fought with an almost seeming extra bit of brutality when he was defending her.

Sergei returned it, just as intense as she started it. His hand came up to cup the side of her face. He did not care about much at the moment, either. For him, this was just something else-he thought nothing of what happened in there, but his perceptive nature could sense a sort of distress or something of the sort on Lili, and if this is what she wanted-he would provide.

He re-positioned her by the wall as she leaned against it, continuing to kiss him. She did not want to leave this spot at this moment, for some reason.

He remained by her side; he suspected at this point he would have even if he hadn't been hired.

–

Lili sat on her own on the edge of the bed; she had showered, scrubbing down quite well this time, and more than once. She suspected that somewhere in her subconscious, she felt like she was responsible for the deaths of the men that she knocked down or out; even though she knew Sergei would have gotten them anyway. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

She didn't miss them. She didn't feel guilty, either. It was this aspect she suspected that bothered her a bit.

Sergei was in the room, also stripped to the waist and having a cigarette. He had come over quickly after a shower, since her behavior afterward concerned him slightly. She seemed that she did not want to be alone, and he was correct.

He looked over at her as he smoked at the table. His arm was clean and bandaged well.

"How are you?" He was short and to the point.

Lili snorted some light laughter before walking over to him. "I'm fine. I'm not sure what came over me. I feel like...did I...kill..."

Sergei shook his head. "I did that. You fought them." He touched under her chin. "Very well." He was always confident in her ability. She continued to prove herself to him time and time again.

"I didn't care that you did kill them, though." His kills had stopped bothering her. They all weren't horrific-sometimes just a snapped neck from a grapple or kick. Even his most brutal kills-those usually involving a crushed skull and all sorts of colorful things leaking out-no longer bothered her. She smiled a tiny bit, though, at his compliment.

Sergei looked at her. He wished he could help her here, but his feelings when it came to this sort of thing were so cold that he could not. "Don't worry," was all he could think to say. He took a drag of the cigarette before exhaling deeply and looking back over. "I'm sorry. I can't help you more."

Lili smiled at that. "I don't think I need it. I suppose they're enemies. I don't think I could bring myself to...unless...but regardless." She looked out the window. "You're here."

Sergei looked up at her from his seat as he finished the cigarette. He stood instead and stretched, Lili immediately moving forward against his chest, sliding her arms around him. It was times like this that she cursed the fact that this may end at any moment, and it may not start up again. It made her quite angry at times; why couldn't he just choose to stay? Her family would never approve, but still. She did not leave him, though; any such frustration would usually pass in time when he touched her.

Which he did; his hand moving across her neck, rubbing it. He did what he could for her. He folded both of his hands over her head as she rest her forehead against his chest. Her fingers traced his scars; she knew he had gotten several more added on account of her. Probably more than the field, since she had remembered the times he had come back. She still remembered that night when he killed the attackers on the manor, when he managed to give her the comfort that no one else could.

She looked up at him. "Can you bring them down? The Zaibatsu?"

"That is my duty."

"It's...not easy, is it."

He shook his head. "I'd have done it over a year ago if it had been."

"Bring them down," she said, looking into his eyes. "I'm ordering you, as well."

He looked down at her, tracing a finger down her face.

"I will." After a moment of silence, his next words would never leave the back of her mind.

"I promise."

She guessed he had never spoken those words...and she was correct.

He did not say them without thinking about it. He meant it.

He had gone against worse odds. He was still doing it out of duty, but perhaps his duty had an extra reasoning behind it this time.

She looked up at him again, a slightly vindictive look on her face this time. "And get the men who infiltrated our company. Don't let them hurt me or my father. Do whatever you feel necessary to them." Her words were clear enough if one read between the lines. She touched took one of his hands, interlocking her fingers with his.

Following orders was something he could do. He looked down at her again as the fingers of his free hand traced down her face.

I am yours to command.


	16. Chapter 16

Silent Pulse Fenris30

Summary:

* * *

Tension rises as the apparent mole in the company tries to blackmail Mr. Rochefort by injuring his daughter via hiring a thug. Failing this, the pair-Sergei and Lili-realize they need to find the mole before he tries something more drastic. Sergei enlists the aid of an old acquaintance of his from Sweden, who happens to be an ex-Zaibatsu member and a rather big bone to pick with them as well. The two travel and see what they can uncover, with Lili realizing that Sergei may actually have an actual friend.

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

* * *

Lili grabbed another small sandwich from the plate, chuckling. She waved the waiter over to get a few more of the very expensive appetizers. They were rather excellent, all told. Sergei had one, and even he was impressed; he was usually not one to really care too much about what he ate.

It had been ages, but two of her friends from Monaco had came to visit for a few nights.

Well, maybe not ages, but it had been about four months she had seen them. Two girls, around her age. They sat and laughed over stories, a bit sad they missed Lili's nineteenth birthday a couple of weeks before, but she was busy with her family anyway that day, who had come over to Berlin to visit.

Sergei had kept her quite busy that night, as well.

Lili glanced over at him; he stood by the wall with his arms folded. He was on a higher alert since the past incidents, though nothing more happened. He was still trying to root out the potential mole, but he seemed to have disappeared from the Berlin headquarters; when Lili looked into it, he had ostensibly gone on a short business trip to meet with some others. Neither of them were too sure about that. Meet with someone, possibly.

She had to stop herself from looking too long since she did not want her friends to know; she had to keep it a secret even to them. Truth be told, she adored them, but she would not trust them with sensitive information, given how they liked gossip and also liked to drink wine on weekends. It was difficult, though.

Today, Sergei wore a gray-toned outfit; urban-camouflage trousers and a tight, dark gray t-shirt. This looked particularlygood on him. He did have his heavier vest on, but as menacing as he looked, most at the place seemed to realize he was a bodyguard for Lili.

They still steered clear, though. Her friends would even eye him nervously from time to time.

They had been here for about three hours now, Sergei only going outside to smoke once before. He decided to have another, pulling his long fur-collared jacket on as the weather was hovering around freezing.

After lighting it, he kept his eyes out for anything odd, though he suspected today would be quite calm. Truth be told, he was happy she got to see a couple of her friends. He had absolutely no interest in them, but they seemed nice enough, though much less mature than Lili. Lili could act her age and even younger, for sure, though she had a maturity that followed her around; she was more like a young lady in her twenties.

Still, Lili lived a rather busy life and rarely got to see the people she cared about; she held up well, which he always respected. She would complain now and again, but he would just listen. He had long given up trying to stop himself from feeling anything for her-he simply had to be ready to detach himself completely if it came to it.

He finally figured that until that time hit-even if they had to keep it completely undercover-he could allow himself to feel. And so he did...quite deeply.

So far, he did not regret this fact.

He took the last drag of his smoke, kicking it out with the front of his combat boot before heading back in. He heard them chuckling again. They spoke English; Sergei discovered one of the girls was actually an exchange student friend of hers from London, and while she was decent with French, she found English easier, so they all spoke it.

He honestly had not paid too much attention to their banter, though he would occasionally pick something up. It mostly went in one ear and out the other for him. This was one of those times where he did sort of feel ten years older than Lili; it was not something he minded, but he was actually a bit amused on how generally he never even thought of her as ten years younger, but times like this it would come out.

He took his spot back by the wall, leaning against it. Lili glanced over at him a moment, keeping a neutral expression. The waiter offered him a refill on his coffee; he accepted, along with one more shot. It would only be his third, and that was nowhere near enough to slow his reflexes. He would probably pass on the fourth, though, just to be prudent.

As he listened in, he heard one of the girls mention something about her boyfriend. Before they had left, Lili had reassured both of them that Sergei would repeat nothing, so some of the things they were discussing did get a bit personal; this was of no concern to him.

When she mentioned something about her boyfriend's sexual habits, his expression did not change; though he saw Lili start to attempt to stifle laughter. She quickly turned her attention to the glass of water that was there, dabbing her mouth off with the napkin afterward and smoothing down her hair. Sergei watched her look at the others and apologize for taking too big a bite of her sandwich.

Gossip went on for awhile, Sergei simply doing rounds of the place or standing by the wall. When it was time, Lili motioned to him to call for the limo, which he did.

He helped all three into their jackets; the other two seemingly waiting for him to twist their heads off if they looked away too long, judging by their expressions. As the two left the coatroom first, Lili looked over her shoulder, the familiar look on her face inviting him to her flat after they dropped the others off.

He was sort of planning on it, anyway.


	17. Chapter 17

She couldn't explain it, but Lili woke up with a bit of an uncomfortable feeling; like something was...off. She didn't know what, or where, but it was an odd feeling. Nothing seemed wrong at a glance; she checked her flat, and nothing was amiss. She had called on a few servants, requesting her breakfast and other things, and nothing seemed weird with them, either.

Sergei had always done a full check of her place at night, and there had been nothing wrong. He had stayed most of the night; they had, of course, enjoyed some pleasurable time together. He slept for a bit there, and then went back to his own flat; she had an early day again today, only this time she would be meeting with two people at an office building to go over some finances.

This was one of the more painfully boring things of her internship. The restaurant meetings were one thing-she could at least sort of half-zone out, enjoy good food since it was usually somewhere nice, and get waited on like someone of her status should be. At the headquarters she was subjected to weak coffee, boring suits and stuffy board rooms.

Sergei was always there, standing guard at the door, as usual.

She chalked up her odd feeling to a bad dream, perhaps, or just nerves from some of the things that had happened recently before going about getting ready. She had to leave in about forty-five minutes; Lili was one to sometimes put mornings off until the last possible moment. She went about figuring out something to wear-deciding on jeans, short boots and a blouse. Usually one did not wear jeans to a business casual meeting, but given that it was sort of her family's company this morning she felt like doing what she wanted.

I'm sure they'll live without me a few moments. What are they going to do, fire me?

She looked outside at the sun peeking over the cold city, sort of wishing she had this morning off. It would be so perfect to just sit there, breathe in some cold air, drink coffee, play on her laptop, and maybe spend a bit of time with Sergei later on.

She heard the knock; it was probably one of her butlers her maids with her coffee. She stretched and went to the door to finally bring herself to life for the day.

–

The meeting was everything she could have guessed; boring. One of the more boring ones that she could remember. Thankfully, it was short.

Even Sergei looked bored, and he was known to be able to take immense amounts of it. He stifled a yawn at one point. He had no problems dealing, but he much preferred the restaurant meetings himself. He stood at the door in his dark gray, almost SWAT-esque outfit which he wore in colder weather, his arms folded and sipping at some of the weak office coffee that was in a paper cup. At one brief moment, he locked eyes with Lili; she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of humor in his eyes. She stifled a chuckle at this.

It finally ended, Lili grabbing her coat and quickly going to leave with Sergei following her. When they reached the front steps, she realized she had forgotten something in her rush to escape.

"Damn;" she said, searching around. "I forgot one of the folders. I don't want to leave it here in case my father needs me to send him something from it."

Sergei nodded, and followed her back in.

At that moment, there was a sound that Lili did not recognize, though Sergei did. He covered her with his huge body, pushing her to the ground as the person that was following them in-a random man they did not know-fell to the ground, a massive stain of blood on the front and back of his business suit.

The few people that were milling around the office screamed or simply started running around in confusion; Sergei grabbed Lili-gently but firmly-and lifted her, carrying her toward one of the windowless side rooms. He kicked the electrically-locked door open as if it were a screen door on someone's porch.

Before he had tackled her, she glimpsed a man running; he looked familiar. He was not the man they had a bad feeling about...but he had been at the building before; though he didn't appear to be pretending to work there or anything.

Lili was breathing heavily; looking confused, a bit scared, and nervous.

"Sergei...?"

He checked outside; having kicked the door open it was now broken. He looked deadly serious. "Stay here."

She nodded, as a few other people began to funnel into the room, also confused and scared. Lili picked herself up, realizing that she had been attacked before, and began to slowly calm herself down. It's okay. You're inside. He's running off. Besides, you've fought armed men before, side by side with Sergei.

She then stood, dusting herself off and putting on a brave face. She looked at the other people in the room-technically people who worked for her father, when it came down to it, and cleared her throat.

"My bodyguard is highly trained. Military. He'll make sure we're okay."

They looked at her, nodding. They realized who it was, calmly going to sit down in the corner. Other guards were milling about; many of them on phones and the like. Sergei was nowhere to be seen at this moment; she noticed he had went to go examine the body for some reason first.

Lili exhaled, trying to stay visibly calm for them. She actually, after the initial shock felt...okay, especially given that someone had apparently tried to kill her, and almost succeeded. She was not so daft that she didn't see that; the fact she had forgotten the papers allowed her to come inside to safety.

She looked out the door, seeing Sergei walk by, the look on his face...something that she had never seen before. Besides cold rage, there was something else.

Guilt? Why...

She stepped out of the door, fastening her coat. She gave him a look that said wherever he was going-and he seemed like he was heading out quickly-she would be going with him. She looked at the security guards.

"Take care of these people," she said. She knew the private security force would do so; something this delicate would not be involving the police. They would probably ensure that they did not get involved. She thought of one other thing that sounded like madness...but she wanted to do this.

She went over to one of the guards whom she recognized as one of the higher-ranked ones. He bowed politely, knowing who she was. She had been many times at this building and he had been introduced some time back.

"Say nothing of this to my father."

The guard blinked. "Ms. Rochefort?"

She shook her head. "He does not need to know about this. Leave it quiet. Make sure this man's family-if he has any-is properly cared for. As much as possible. But do not bring my father into this. Please."

He nodded. "I...we won't." The men did not personally know the Rocheforts-some of the highest ranked ones did-but he would listen to the young heiress' wishes; if there was a reason she wanted to keep it quiet, it was probably a good one.

She gave Sergei a look that she would be coming with him. He looked at her...but nodded. He knew that now that they knew who he was-Sergei had seen and recognized him as well-that they could find him.

Lili had no idea what Sergei had planned for this one.

Everything was a blur. Not much time had passed at all; maybe ten minutes. She wondered if the man had a getaway car. Sergei checked a few things, but realized that he could not have; he was not with the company, nor was he pretending to be. He wouldn't have been able to park, thus he had to have been on foot.

Sergei was glancing around, checking for the familiar man. In roughly ten minutes, he couldn't have gotten too far, though he could have ducked into somewhere innocuous. He stopped, occasionally asking someone who had been around if they had noticed the man of that description.

In a way, they were lucky. It was early, so most people were already in the offices or on their way to work via cars due to the weather. The sidewalks were slightly icy, so unless he was wearing studs on his shoes, he would not be able to move quickly. Judging by the way he blindly sort of went up to shoot and accidentally hit the wrong person because Lili had turned around to go in just as another man came out, he wasn't particularly skilled; whoever hired him had probably found a more thuggish type.

Lili was trying not to think about how close she came. It was not the time.

After going around the perimeter, they found their answer after but a few moments...from a street vendor. Sergei had thought to ask him early; in his experience, the locals and the everyday people sometimes noticed more than people gave them credit for. He has had to deal with many in various insurgencies and the like.

Yes, he had seen a man like that-and he had gone to a rather scummy bar on the corner to try to hide. He noticed because the man was relatively well dressed, and it seemed odd he would be going to such an establishment.

Why would they hire such an amateur, Lili thought. She would have been insulted if she hadn't have been almost killed.

They eventually saw the establishment when they went to the seedier area; it was a bit run down and apparently closed...but the door was cracked open. Sergei looked down at Lili.

"It seems that bar is something more."

"I think it's probably just a bar," she said, "that people use for other things. I've been traveling and have run into these." She had run into several places in her life-usually after wrong turns-that were apparently restaurants, bars, or whatnot, but might as well have had 'money laundering done here' written on a sign somewhere out front.

Sergei nodded. "Wait around out here. I'll make sure that it's clear."

She had no idea how this happened so quickly, but she supposed it was a good thing. Had Sergei had not thought to check with the street vendor, he may have gotten away. He may still have gotten away, when she thought more about it.

Judging by the loud crash she heard inside, this was not the case. A man-not the one from this morning, though one who looked familiar to her as well-ran by.

Almost instinctively, she stuck her leg out in a waist-high kick; catching him in the stomach, he was stopped short where he flew back from the force, hitting his head on the wall hard enough to apparently knock him unconscious. She walked by, pausing to give him one more kick in the ribs just to make sure he was out. Or maybe just because she felt like it.

Lili snorted. I'm getting good at this.

She heard a scream inside; apparently he had not gotten away fast enough.

He came close though. Too close.

She opened the door to find Sergei in the completely empty bar-it was still closed-savagely beating the man; he had run his head into the wall several times, leaving smears of blood behind that increased in size with each hit. His fist dripped blood as well, telling her that he had likely punched the man several times first. Or in between. She had no idea.

When he span around to throw him against the bar, where he collapsed onto his hands and knees-well, one hand in any case as the other arm was visibly broken-the look in his eyes was like nothing she had seen.

She was startled by this. He was not killing this man out of necessity, like the rest.

He was enjoying this. Far more than his usual enjoyment of wading through enemies. He liked fighting, yes-he loved it, in fact. But this was different.

When the man tried to stand, he smashed the side of his face into the bar's footrest with his boot; blood and teeth flew everywhere. He was gurgling breaths at this point; she realized he was not dead yet despite half of his face literally being shattered. He smashed down again, still missing a fatal blow, causing more of...everything to fly. For a third hit he grabbed the man by the hair; Lili getting a look at his face and wishing she hadn't. He slammed it into the bar before dropping him back down to the floor. Blood was everywhere; on the wall where he originally rammed his head into, all over the floor, the side of the bar, and Sergei.

"Sergei", she said, her voice almost urgent.

He turned toward her. The man squirmed feebly on the ground.

"...You can finish it. I'm okay. I'm okay..." What got over him?

Sergei shook his head, seemingly snapping out of his rage. He finally smashed down with one more stomp, crunching the back of his head in another massive spray of blood and gods knew what else. Given it was a few inches off the ground, she heard the dripping sound as the blood-and whatever else-hit the floor.

This one, she could not look at for long. She had seen Sergei brutally mangle plenty of men-snapping their necks and smashing their heads in-but this one was terrible. It was like he had been purposely at the man, with the intent on tormenting him first before killing him. Blood, brain, and even apparently bone were visible. Lili felt a bit queasy, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the remains, because of the look in Sergei's eyes, or because of the entire morning.

She breathed out, turning around. She felt a tear begin to well up from stress, but she choked it down. Not now. You're stronger than this.

She turned back, composed. "Let's go back." She held her hand out.

Sergei walked slowly over to her, taking it. His hand was sticky with blood, it was spattered across his face, all over his legs and arms, but she didn't care.

When they got outside, the man was gone, but neither seemed to even care.

He's probably on his way out of the country right now if he saw what went on in here.

–

Back in Lili's flat, Sergei sat with a double shot of vodka, an ashtray at his side-filled with more crushed out smokes than usual-as he smoked another. He had showered and cleaned the blood off of his clothing the best he could.

He looked over at her as she walked over to the edge of the couch to stroke his damp hair. She hadn't really figured out what to say to him yet; she had been silent the entire time. Finally, she decided to speak up.

"I...he's dead, Sergei. He's gone. Like the rest."

He looked over at her. "Not soon enough." He glowered. "And only once."

She shivered. She didn't understand what happened to him...until she thought about it.

"Are you...because he almost..."

He nodded once. "I have never failed in duty before."

"But you haven't as far as I'm concerned. He's dead." More dead than I've ever seen you make someone.

He was more angry with himself than anything. If the man was in front of him again, he would kill him again, gladly. He should have known. He looked up at her again.

"I should have went over the perimeter more."

"You couldn't have seen inside of his coat."

Sergei thought for a moment, and nodded. He supposed she was right about that. In his blindness of the moment, he had not thought of that. "I suppose...you are right."

It was odd. He also realized that it was not even a failure of his duty that he thought of first that moment.

It was that she could have died.

Lili smirked lightly, to show that she was holding up. "It's over. But..."

Sergei nodded, composing himself. "There are more." He seemed to almost do a 180, she thought. He snapped back to his usual professional self. He thought for a moment. "I have pictures of the man. Ever since you mentioned him to me..."

Lili nodded. "I should have known."

"I have a contact. Let me see what I can do." He stood to go back to his room. He turned for a moment to place his hands on her shoulders. She immediately embraced him to kiss him deeply. She felt like she wanted to after everything...almost that she needed to.

After it broke, Lili nodded. "Again-he's dead. I'm fine. You failed nothing. You couldn't have known."

Sergei smiled ever so slightly. He said nothing as he turned to leave.

Lili watched him silently as well.

Silence was something that she almost welcomed sometimes these days.

–

She heard the soft knock, as Sergei let himself in; he knew she didn't mind this. She turned around-a little jumpy at the door opening. Sergei saw her, and suddenly looked slightly apologetic, or as close as he got to that.

That made Lili smile. He has it in him. Then again I always knew he did. Just not like other people. Somehow it always made her stomach twist-in a good way-when she thought about this, since it was hard for her to get over that it was only for her.

He walked over to the couch, dressed in his more casual cargos and tank top. He fiddled a cigarette out of a box and lit it.

"I think my contact can help. But after speaking to him-it may be wise to perhaps leave here for a week or so. Maybe a week and a half."

Lili blinked...but thought it didn't sound that bad. "I can probably arrange a 'business meeting', if you know what I mean...it would take me about a week, though."

He nodded. "That's fine. The man I know is in Stockholm. He can get us a place to stay."

"Out of the way, I'm guessing? And Sweden? You know people in Sweden?"

"Yes. He is an acquaintance that I've known since before you and I have met, though it wasn't too long before that."

She didn't ask questions. "I can set up a business trip and get a private flight out. In a week."

"He also may be able to help us in other ways."

Lili came over to sit next to him on the couch finally, tucking up under his arm. She didn't say anything else; she just wanted to be with him. He began to run his hand through her hair, finally allowing himself to relax.

He had allowed her to convince him that he did not fail. But he would use this day to never get that close to failing again. He would find the supposed mole and end this.

He made a promise, after all.

And he never failed his duty.


	18. Chapter 18

It had been about a week since the incident, and they had left as planned for Stockholm. The Rocheforts' private plane was wonderful; it had a bedroom with a door, a nice, albeit small, bathroom, comfy chairs, and the whole nine. No servants went with them, and the pilots were told to keep the trip an utmost secret.

Sergei nudged a sleeping Lili lightly. He had heard that they would be landing, and he figured it would be a good idea to get separated and back to 'bodyguard and charge.' There weren't too many on the plane, so they figured it would be okay to spend time together in the back, though it still was a little risky.

The snow wasn't so bad on the ground, but it had been short and heavy; enough to delay flights. It was only for an hour, though. He had let his contact know he would be late; unlike commercial flights, they did not ban phone use. They went by Lili's rules, since she was the technical 'owner' of the jet. Well, her family was, in any case.

They would be in Stockholm for about ten days. It was disguised as a business trip. Lili's father knew where they were going, but he did not know about the attempt on her life. Lili did not wish to give up the internship or run from her enemies; it was not her style. She would face them head-on...with Sergei's help.

It was one of the things he liked so much about her.

Lili stirred when Sergei gently nudged her again, allowing his fingers to lightly run through her hair a few times. She opened her eyes, smirking at him as she looked up.

"Are we there?" she asked, sitting up. She was a bit groggy.

He nodded.

She slid out of the bed, pleased the flight was fairly smooth on approach. She noted the screen in the corner and saw they should be touching down in about ten minutes. Upon arrival, they would have a per-arranged limo waiting to take them to some place that had been set up.

It was Sergei's idea. His contact had a place secured for them downtown. It was quite large and nice, just not as lavish. Lili was okay with this given the circumstances...for a short amount of time, anyway.

She gathered her things so she could go to the seat to prepare for the landing. "Who is your contact?" she asked.

"An ex-Zaibatsu member."

She twitched. "He is ex, right?"

Sergei nodded, smiling lightly.

Lili smiled back. If there was one person in the world she could trust with anything, it was Sergei.

Before she opened the door, she motioned his head down to plant a light kiss on his mouth.

I'm getting a bit daring with him more often now. Especially with others so close by.

–

The limo ride had been fairly short and uneventful. They reached the area, which was a little out of the way, though not completely in the sticks. It looked like pretty normal from the outside, which was probably a good thing at this moment.

Sergei let the two of them into the flat. Lili found it interesting, as it was two stories; but both above and underground instead. It was actually quite large; it was a little on the spartan side, but it was very nice, as the things it did have were rather pricey and attractive. Lili wasn't sure what sort of thing this was used for, but she figured she could live here for a week and a half as everyone tried to figure out how to catch the mole.

He then piled their bags into the corner; he figured Lili would unpack whenever she wanted to. The place also came fully stocked with anything to eat or drink; the first thing he did was go hook up the coffee maker. He wanted his coffee, vodka, and a cigarette after all of this. He threw his pack of smokes on the table, knowing that his contact would likely like some of both, as well.

Lili examined the place more closely. It honestly wasn't bad, truth be told. She noticed the thermostat and took it up another notch; she wasn't quite as into the cold as Sergei, and the place hadn't had the head on for awhile. Sergei had clearly asked for a flat that was a bit on the nicer side, for Lili's sake. She much appreciated that.

She actually found it rather telling about his feelings as well, but she didn't say anything.

This floor-which was street level-had the large kitchen, a sort of living room, a big bathroom, and a study. The basement level-which was just as nicely taken care of as the first floor-had a smaller kitchen, the bedroom, another bathroom, and a small library. She actually considered asking about buying it so she could have a place to stay if she ever wanted to visit her again under better circumstances; she liked to travel, after all, and she could afford it.

The smell of coffee came from the upstairs kitchen rather quickly, and it relieved her. She could use some, herself. She didn't much feel like sleeping at the moment, and she would have to meet this contact anyway.

I hope we find out what we need to here. I'm not sure how it will all fall together...but I suppose I'll find out soon enough.

She went down to the bedroom and began to unpack, wanting to keep herself busy. She felt a little nervous, for some reason; she knew she had nothing to fear with Sergei there, but perhaps it had been the big mix of everything that was wearing on her. She had held up well, all told.

As she was placing a few of her nicer things in the large closet, she heard a faint knock coming from upstairs, followed by Sergei's heavy footsteps above and an opening door.

He's here, I suppose. She went up the stairs to see who it was. On her way up, she heard a voice greet Sergei; it was not as deep as his. It sounded like a young man.

When she arrived, she saw a somewhat familiar face; she did not know him personally, but she could have sworn she saw him around the tournament.

He was wearing a sort of leather military-style jacket, along with some loose jeans and combat boots; he had been involved with the military Sergei had told her, but he did not carry himself as such like Sergei did. He seemed far more relaxed and casual. Under the coat he wore a tight, sleeveless shirt. His reddish-brown hair went almost every which way, though he seemed to take care of it; it was unkempt, but not sloppy. He had a scar over his left eye, and while he was a few inches shorter than Sergei, his build told her that he was no stranger to combat. He wasn't as bulky, but he was clearly strong.

Sergei turned, nodding. "Lili," he said.

The man turned toward her. "I'm Lars. Sergei told me a few things."

She blinked. "Wait...aren't you...one of..."

He snorted. "Yes, and no need to worry about that ."

Sergei smirked, nodding silently toward the kitchen.

Lars removed his jacket, tossed it onto the chair near the door, and followed. Lili followed the two men, having no idea what was going on. The three of them eventually settled around the kitchen table with coffee, Sergei placing an ashtray in the middle. Lili added a bit of vodka to her own coffee for once; she usually preferred Irish creme, but this was one of those times she wanted a bit more.

Lars lit his cigarette, adding some vodka to his own before passing the bottle and blowing out a stream of smoke. "I suppose I should explain a few things," he said, looking at Lili. "Since I know he's bad at it."

Sergei snorted, lighting his own smoke.

Lili sipped her coffee. "I'm wondering why a Mishima would want to help me...?"

Lars rolled his eyes, though not unkindly. "I'm no longer with the Zaibatsu. They want me dead. They're my enemy as much as they are yours or Sergei's."

Sergei nodded. "We met fighting an ambush of Tekken Force soldiers." Sergei had been impressed when he saw Lars break one's neck with a single yank of his hand; it was so violent that the man's head touched his back. He figured he was a few moments from practically tearing his head off.

Lili knew again that she could trust Sergei, and anyone whose fighting prowess he respected she guessed was probably at least pretty good.

Lars took a sip of the spiked coffee and another puff of the cigarette. "We kept in touch occasionally after that; he often fought the soldiers around his homeland, and I tend to take out the ones who try to kill me. I had enough ins to feed him some recon."

Sergei just nodded. He was almost glad Lars was here to talk for him. Words were, of course, not his strong suit.

Lili nodded. "Sergei...so you contacted him?"

He nodded again. "I thought he could help."

Lars looked at her. "I know what a few of the operatives looked like around the Zaibatsu. While I cannot guarantee it, I can look into a few things and see if there is someone who is snooping around Rochefort Enterprises."

"And then..." Lili continued.

"I'll take care of him," Sergei said. He did not say more, but he knew she remembered that night.

Lili nodded and sighed.

Everyone was silent for awhile, Lars fiddling with his phone-which was a decidedly older model-as he smoked. Lili had to grin; she was the type who naturally had the latest-and most expensive-gadgets when she wanted them.

"You know, for your help, I could probably get that upgraded for you." She chuckled.

Lars chuckled back. "No one can hack this thing, though."

That's...actually pretty brilliant. Maybe Sergei is onto something with him. Sergei, in fact, smirked a tiny bit at that. It was the first time she saw him with a facial expression-that wasn't cold, murderous rage-around someone other than her.

They sat quietly around the table for a spell. Lars was still checking a few things on his phone.

Lili finally spoke up. "How can you find him?"

Lars put down his phone and went to light another cigarette. "I still have a few connections. Small-time people who were let down like myself but who couldn't break out. Not every single person that works for the company is with them. It's huge. You know how far they reach."

She nodded. "And since they're very interested in my father's company..."

"I can maybe see if anyone knew anything about someone who may have 'defected' to Rochefort Enterprises. Then we can see if it's the same person, who it is, and how to find them."

Sergei smirked slightly at that, though Lili would have called it a slightly disturbing one. I have a feeling he's going to like killing this one...

The fact he had attempted to kill her-or at least she could have guessed it was him-made her particularly unsympathetic to what would be his rather short future if Sergei did get his hands on him, however.

The three sat around the table for awhile more, getting one more cup of coffee each; Lili skipped the vodka this time, but the other two opted in. Lighting one last cigarette for himself and then Sergei, Lars looked over at her.

"I'm here to help. I may talk more than him, but they won't get anything out of me." He cracked his knuckles.

Lili smiled. "Thanks." She looked around. "Did you find this?"

He nodded. "He asked me. Big, out of the way. As nice as you could find without being too obvious. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, especially at short notice."

She laughed. She actually started to feel a bit better, after the fairly sudden Berlin departure. "It's fine for awhile."

He snorted, though smiled. Lili's mind began to work in amusing ways; she never pictured Sergei with a 'military buddy' before, but she wondered if this man was the closest thing he had. She knew even if it was true Sergei would never admit it, but she liked the thought.

Sergei stretched, looking over at the clock. Lars did so as well, noticing it wasn't that late, but then blinking after a few moments. "I should leave. I don't want to stay here longer than I need. He can contact me, and I will get ahold of you both when and if I find out anything."

Lili-rather sharp these days after spending enough time to Sergei-noticed the quick look he gave the two of them, though said nothing. I really hope this one can keep a secret, Sergei. She nodded, though. "Thank you. For everything."

He stood, nodding at the two of them. "I owe them too." He cracked the knuckles of one of his hands again. Lili's hair stood on end this time, though just for a moment. She blinked, having no idea what caused that. Unlike Sergei, who visibly looked like he was perfectly ready and willing to crush someone's neck for insubordination, let alone even being an enemy, Lars looked rather kind. The fact that he was willing enough to go out of his way for an acquaintance and someone he did not even know, particularly for something this dangerous, told her that he was.

Though she had a distinct feeling that whatever he had done to the soldiers that Sergei had seen him fight had been nasty enough to impress even him, so she suspected that he had another side to him.

He finished his coffee and cigarette, going to grab his jacket. "I'll be in touch." He nodded to Lili. "Nice meeting you." He looked at Sergei. "Save at least one for me."

Sergei smirked, nodding. He saluted him. Lili had no clue what this was about, but she decided to let it go for now and spring it on him when he least expected it.

I don't think I'll ever know every side of him. I think I sort of like it that way.

–

Lili lay in the bed, her hands behind her head. She was still a bit on edge with everything. She knew that this was the best plan of action, as they would not have been able to really plan how to deal with the mole in Berlin since she would have had to work the whole time. She would have put herself in more danger after the attempt on her life, but it still sort of felt like they were running. She knew it was very temporary, but sort of bit at her.

Sergei came over to lay beside her, propping his head on one hand as his free hand ran down her body. She sighed, though this time it was a more pleasant one.

"Not a bad place," she said, running her hand absently down his chest.

He smirked.

She chuckled. "It works for a few days anyway."

After a few moments of silence, she leaned forward to kiss him, allowing the travel and the whole night to slip off of her. She hadn't gotten to kiss him deeply for awhile, and she quite missed when she did not have that chance. A week had passed since the terrible day, and while she recovered very nicely from it, a lot of that residual stress remained. She never broke, but it made her a little tired to hold up that much for that long.

Physical contact with Sergei tended to help. Right now she wanted to feel pleasure again.

Sergei leaned into her kiss, returning it; he found himself getting more intense rather quickly. His tongue slid into her mouth, teasing her as he drew back to nip and then bite lightly at her lower lip, a small moan escaping his throat. Lili's breathing intensified as she felt his hand begin to slide up under her shirt and down her back. He gently moved her so she was more on her back, propped up on all of the pillows as he positioned over her to continue, releasing her lip for a moment as he kissed her. He could again sense her slight discomfort at the overall situation...and would do what he could to help her.

He supported himself directly over her, his hands on either side of her head. He leaned in again, kissing her, allowing his tongue to run around her lips as she moved forward to deepen it; she nipped at his lip in return. He sort of realized he liked that. He slid one leg on either side of her waist, bringing one hand over to run over a breast; cupping it first, and then tracing his fingers around it while smirking down at her again. She squirmed under him a bit, the arousal already well underway. It didn't take him very long to turn her on.

Nor the other way around, as she could tell due to his position. He leaned in, dipping his head low to trace his lips down her neck, nipping lightly on the way down. He was careful to not cause obvious marks, though he would at least try to draw a few moans out of her. The two had fallen into certain preferences when it came to their intimate time; they tended to get into it rather quickly.

Lili motioned for him to remove his shirt, so he did; he met her in a kiss again before sitting back to pull at her jeans, he didn't care her that own shirt stayed on. Lili chuckled a little evilly; it was apparent that he had a few priorities right now, and it had nothing to do with a mission.

She gasped when he pushed her shirt up and started to lightly kiss her stomach, the familiar feeling of his cool lips against her skin making her shiver. She stroked his hair, some of it falling free from the tail he tied it in. His breath caused another shiver to run up and down her spine; she rubbed the back of his neck, taking his hair down. He continued to kiss her stomach slowly; his tongue lightly flicking against her skin, going lower.

She lifted his head for a second as she moved to the edge of the bed. She quite liked that position. She looked down a moment to stroke his head as she felt his tongue slide between her legs; she moaned out, noticing he did not even much tease her tonight. He seemed like he just wanted to pleasure her.

She grabbed his hair, running her hands through it as she thrust her hips toward him; his head matching her rhythm. He licked her up and down, his own breathing getting heavier along with hers. The room was silent except for their breathing, low moans, and the quiet yet incredibly arousing sound of Sergei's actions.

Lili bit her lip, moving her legs more over his shoulders as he positioned his hands on her rear so he could push closer; he brought his tongue up to stroke her clit for some moments before going back to slide around some more. They had not gotten to be together for some time, so this felt beyond wonderful. It always did-at this point Sergei knew her body and what she liked very, very well; but when it had been awhile-especially after everything-it felt both like a physical and an emotional release. She could tell by his actions-which were more intense than usual-that he felt the same.

He had indeed missed sexual contact with her. Her scent, taste, and touch were almost overtaking him; he pulled back for a few moments to trace his tongue slowly around her folds, just to tease her a bit. He kissed her thigh for some time before moving back; he could tell by her faster breathing and louder gasps that she was close. He pushed toward her, licking her faster and faster until he felt her grip his head and arch her back; the waves of pleasure hitting her with a slightly louder moan.

It didn't take too long, but she still felt fully satisfied; she looked down as she watched him continue to lick her for some moments as he massaged her rear. He kissed her several times both between the legs and on her thighs before leaning against her some moments. Lili had leaned back to catch her breath. It always felt incredible. She squirmed and moaned out again as she felt his tongue slide out as he rest his head on her, continuing to stroke her between her legs slowly, moaning very, very quietly for a moment.

Unless they were in a hurry, Sergei would usually not leave until he had gotten her off at least twice.

He leaned in some more, sliding his hands up more to lightly massage her a bit as he began to lick her more intensely again, enjoying when she moaned out loudly as he began to suck at her highly sensitive clit. A few moments of that, along with rolling his tongue over it and pressing his mouth close to her to quickly match her rhythms made her come again, even stronger than before. Her hands ran through his hair as she arched her back; he stroked her stomach with a free hand, feeling the firm muscle contract in orgasm.

Lili was panting; she had came quite strongly this time. She leaned up on her elbows to look down at him, a small smile on her face as she caught her breath; she reached down with one hand to push back some of his hair. He looked up at her, his eyebrow going up for a moment as he nuzzled at her thigh, licking his lips. She could feel a little of the wetness from his face.

They remained like that a few moments; Lili recovering and Sergei allowing himself an intimate moment to relax, kissing her thigh lightly as he stroked her side. She liked how he was rarely in a hurry afterward.

He finally stood up, sliding his hand down to release himself from his trousers. He looked down at her, a questioning look in his eyes.

She knew he was asking if she wanted to go further. She sat up to pull him down in answer, giving him a moment to prepare himself so he could release without pulling out; he positioned over her and slid inside. It wasn't going to take long, he felt. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist to give him a squeeze; he moaned low, loving this as usual as he began to thrust after a few moments.

She matched his thrusts, wrapping her arms around his neck as she nipped at his shoulder. Sergei closed his eyes and enjoyed it; he could feel himself getting closer and closer to letting go. As always it was incredibly arousing for him to go down on her, and he could still taste her on his lips slightly. Between that, her squeezing his waist with her legs and the feeling of her around, him, he moaned a tiny bit louder and thrust faster; with his usual low and rather attractive near-growl he came, continuing to thrust as she clamped around him, digging in her nails just a bit.

He finally stopped, supporting himself over her as he pulled out, laying there for a moment as he rest his head next to hers. He finally rolled off, sitting on the side of the bed as Lili moved to sit next to him. She smiled, grateful for this night. It had been days and she had sort of gotten used to having it a little more often; plus given everything that had happened...it wasn't that she wanted sex when she was stressed, it was just the intimate act of being so close to him that gave her comfort as well as pleasure.

She smiled over at him, resting her forehead on his arm for a moment as she ran her hand over his shoulder.

He looked down at her for a few moments before looking over to the bathroom.

She knew exactly what he was asking.

I quite like this part, too.


	19. Chapter 19

Three rather calm days had passed before Lars got back to them. He did so at roughly five-thirty in the morning.

Sergei got up easily, but had to nudge Lili a few times before she rolled out of bed, slightly grouchy and out of sorts. She fumbled some casual clothes on; just some jeans, a shirt, socks and a pair of slippers; naturally the two slept naked together. Being alone, they took full advantage of the physical aspect. Since they've been there, they hadn't gone a night without sexual contact. Lili reckoned she was long spoiled and wondered how she'd handle things getting back to Monaco.

 _Human beings were not meant to wake up before sunrise,_ she thought, fumbling off to the kitchen to press the button on the coffeemaker. She prepared it the night before, much like she would have her maids do back at home. She sort of missed having people to wait on her, and couldn't wait to get back. It would be less than a week now. She wanted comfort, she wanted familiarity...she almost wanted to be back in Monaco, but only if Sergei could still work for the family.

She knew she wouldn't be able to have him stay there permanently due to his status, but she had an idea to get him to at least be able to work for them more often. It seemed-from what she could tell-so long as he went away several days a month back to his main base in Moscow, and so long as he was available to deal with emergencies in his homeland first-of which thankfully there have not been many-his superiors seemed to be quite happy with whatever arrangement Mr. Rochefort set up. Probably involving large amounts of money and oil.

She was _quite_ thankful in this case that her father was overprotective.

Getting three cups out, she rubbed her eyes. _This better be good,_ she thought, sitting at the kitchen table with her bathrobe wrapped around her. Sweden in the winter got cold, despite the fact she had the heat turned up. It was one of the drawbacks to the underground level, she guessed. She supposed when she woke up a bit she'd feel better.

Sergei simply wandered around in a pair of trousers; Lili swore that he must have been born in a snow drift or something. He opened the door to let Lars in; he resembled a riot control officer due to his style of dressed. He looked ready for battle, in any case. Lili wondered if she should prepare.

He took his coat off, shaking some of the snow out of his hair.

 _Great, more snow._ She snorted, though smiled and waved. She poured a giant cup of coffee and began to drink it rather quickly; she had a feeling she would want to be a bit more awake for this.

Lars looked at the two of them before sitting down and lighting a smoke. "I found out a bit of information. I don't know who the mole is yet but I did find out about the apparent assassin. He is tied to him."

Lili snorted. "I had a feeling." She thought back. "How did..."

Lars looked at Sergei. "You _really_ mangled this one. They knew who he was, though. They could tell by what he was wearing, his gun, and everything else."

Sergei sipped his coffee and lit a cigarette silently. He looked as if it would gladly do it again if he were there.

"Anyway," Lars continued, "They didn't want you gone."

Lili blinked. "Why hire a man to kill me then?"

"He was supposed to wound you as a warning to your father to give up or worse would happen."

 _Are they just daft?_ "So...they wanted to warn me by shooting me."

Sergei looked at her. "A bullet can cause permanent damage. He was careless besides...his aim would have killed you."

Lili gulped. "You'd think they'd hire someone more competent."

Lars crushed out his cigarette. "Trust me, I've worked for them. Some of the thugs of the company can be quite careless and cheap on who they hire. Not all of the Zaibatsu is evil-in fact, far from it-the everyday people are just people who work there. Some are rather brilliant plotters and planners. Others yet are common thugs looking to get ahead. There are a lot of them."

"I guess they're easy for higher-ups to use."

Lars nodded, smirking. "The Zaibatsu tries to do things the easiest way possible, trust me."

Lili laughed. "My father mentioned something about that. He said he's pretty sure people around our company try to pull that."

Sergei had his arms folded, smirking down at the table. Lili looked over. "At least they know how to pick bodyguards."

Lars took a drag of his smoke, chuckling. "In any case, they found a thug in the company willing to try to send a message and he apparently failed. Badly. On the bright side, perhaps your...bodyguard's mangling of the man wasn't all for nothing...they'll probably be too afraid to try again right away."

Lili looked over at Sergei, who still sat back in his chair, drinking his coffee. He shrugged lightly, raising his eyebrow. "It worked."

She smirked back. He had totally recovered from his ever-so-slight crisis of confidence. If you could even call It that. He had just gotten a bit confused, she figured, for a few moments...due to possibly realizing feelings he had thought were long buried.

Lars finished his coffee and cigarette, standing. "I have to head out. I'll let you know if I can come up with anything else. I think I can."

Lili smiled, walking over to the fridge to figure out something to eat. She sort of disliked cooking, wishing others to do it for her, but she wasn't quite sure what Sergei-who was seemingly happy eating anything including cold field rations-would do with food if given it to cook. "Thanks again."

She decided she liked Lars Alexandersson; he was fairly easygoing overall, despite having a slight military demeanor to him. She could tell by some of his actions and how he talked, but she could also tell he was never as deep into it as Sergei. She probably wouldn't have recognized it if she hadn't been around Sergei so much. He was kind, though; he seemed willing enough to go out of his way for someone he didn't know, as a favor for someone who seemed to just be a combat buddy. She almost thought Sergei might consider him something of a friend, though he would probably never admit it.

She thought he might have a side to him in combat, though; for Sergei to apparently be fairly impressed with him, she got the impression if angered or forced he could probably mangle opponents pretty efficiently. He didn't seem to enjoy it as much as Sergei, but he seemed like he would _not_ hold back.

Lars smiled, saluting. "I'll make you owe me afterward," he said, though jokingly. Sergei smirked, saluting back and going to pour more coffee.

The other man turned and left, leaving the two alone. Lili folded her arms, deciding that she would just call for a limo and go out to an expensive hotel breakfast this morning instead.

Sergei saw her look, walked over to the table, picked up her phone, and handed it to her. She smiled up at him.

 _He actually knows me better than I think he does._

–

Lili enjoyed her time out that morning. She felt much, much better after returning, and decided to sit at the desk to do a bit of reading.

She had noticed the sidearm she had been training with on the desk. She went over to check it out; carefully making sure it was unloaded and the safety was on, just as Sergei taught her to. She looked it over after that, holding it out toward the wall; even double checking that there would be no one standing behind it...thought she was in the lower level and that would be quite impossible. She knew what they could do, and she was just being overly careful, she supposed.

Sergei walked in, having had to deal in some reports; he would have to go back to base for three or so days this month, but that usually happened. He noticed Lili holding it and practicing aiming at the wall with the unloaded gun. He walked over to the desk, lighting a cigarette and absently scratching at one of the scars on his shoulder; the gunshot wound, in fact. It would itch every so often as old scars could.

She looked over at him. "I wouldn't mind practicing again sometime soon."

He nodded. "We can." He took a puff. "How do you feel with it?"

"Okay. Better. I think I could actually carry one around." After the incident, she somehow thought she'd feel better.

He walked over to her, the cigarette in his mouth. He touched her under the chin once with a finger. "Could you pull the trigger with the intent to kill?"

Lili paused. _Yes? No? I...don't know. If it meant my life? Maybe? Or yours..._

That question confused her enough for the moment that she sat down, placing the gun carefully on the desk the way he taught her. She touched it. "I don't know." She thought for a few moments. "I would still like to practice, though."

He nodded. "It's not my decision. You can carry it anytime you want. Whatever gun you want." He crouched in front of her, taking the cigarette out. "But if you pull it out and hesitate, it could be more dangerous than if you opted for a faster response." For a split second his usually stoic face-even around her-looked slightly sad. It wasn't even a change of expression as much as it was the look in his eyes, but she saw it.

She understood what he meant. If danger struck, she was actually very good at adapting; she had improved over her time of training, and with Sergei's little bits that he taught her as well. But if she were to pull the gun in self defense, and then hesitate instead of taking a faster option...it could end badly. She didn't want that.

"I'll think about it. Practice more. See where things take me. Or maybe I could carry it but not pull it. Maybe I'll get better so I won't have to ever pull it out." She smiled.

Sergei nodded, smirking at that. He did trust she would make the decision that was right for her.

She checked it out some more, putting it away and standing. "I'm bored. Let's leave soon." She got a bit of the demanding tone that she would get now and then. Which he actually grew to like.

He nodded. He wouldn't mind spending a bit of time there himself. He hadn't had to actually use one in awhile and he did enjoy them as a hobby, after all. He started to prepare everything while Lili got dressed.

Little did she know, but he was figuring a way to get his superiors to let him work more freelance-he knew they certainly appreciated the resources they got from Lili's father, after all.

–

The range had been fairly fun. Sergei had unloaded quite a few rounds, and Lili was getting quite adept at the Gsh-18, and even tried a heavier caliber weapon, though she was a bit shaky there. She was a bit afraid of the really big stuff she saw Sergei firing off as if they were .22's.

Lili was on the couch, after her shower; she was wearing her usual tank top and underwear. Sergei had already gotten his and was sitting on the floor leaning against the couch, having just finished a cigarette. He looked over at Lili who was doing something with her phone; possibly sending a message to some friends letting them know she'd be back in Berlin fairly soon.

Lili jumped when she felt his lips suddenly press against her thigh and his hands pulling her underwear off. She gasped when she felt his tongue immediately begin to tease her right between the legs. Dropping her phone-forgetting what she was doing anyway, she leaned back from this little surprise, moaning a bit louder than normal due to the suddenness of it. One of her hands absently found his hair as she began to rub it, his tongue lapping quickly at her, making her wetter by the second.

This did not take long; Sergei didn't seem to be wanting to tease her too much-he was looking to get her off. Sucking at her clit as he swirled his tongue around it-he knew how she liked that-she began to thrust her hips forward as he sped up his actions for the next minutes, not relenting until she moaned loudly in release. She arched her back and rubbed the back of his head until he was finished licking her. After he was sure she was finished, he kissed her center and then her thigh before pulling back, pausing to lick his lips and wipe his mouth off a bit before nuzzling her stomach a few moments. He didn't know what had come over him, but he had just suddenly wanted to pleasure her with one of his favorite actions.

When he smirked up at her and started to stand up, she gently motioned him to stay.

He repositioned on the couch, lying there with his head on her waist and an arm over her. Lili sighed, shifting a bit from the feeling of his sudden pleasure. She stroked his hair, looking down at him as he lay next to her.

 _It could end at any time, but I don't care. That time doesn't exist until it happens._

 _Sergei-your secrets are safe with me._


	20. Chapter 20

It was in the afternoon two days later-four days before they would be returning to Berlin-that Lars came, knocking at the door rather quickly.

Sergei got up quickly to answer, letting him in. Lars kicked the ice from his boots; it had snowed quite nicely that morning, and took his leather jacket off, shaking it out. He rolled up the sleeves on his heavy army green style shirt and nodded to both of them.

"I found a man who is connected to the mole, and I may have an idea on who that is as well, but I'd rather we get the information from the other one first."

Lili blinked. "How..."

Lars smiled, knocking a cigarette out of his pack and offering one to Sergei, who took it. "I have my ways," he replied, lighting it. "But I can spill it. One of the lower-level security guards-who tends to be a little grumpy with how he's been treated-let me know of a meeting between the two men. I did a little snooping and found out that he indeed has ties to a man in Berlin."

Sergei nodded. "Who is he?"

Lars looked at him, taking a drag. "That's your job to find out. I'm pretty sure you're good at getting men to talk."

Sergei smirked; it had a bit of an evil tone to it. Lili looked between them. "So can you set up a meeting?"

"That you'll have to do. Make up something about the company. That way he'll know who you are. If I were you I'd keep it undercover-since then after he leaves, you can tail him to where he's staying and then-well, that's up to you." He paused. "I can come with you to make it smooth in terms of setting things up."

Lili was always very clever and resourceful, though she never thought she would have to dabble in corporate intrigue to try to find a mole in the company. However, if she didn't...things could get worse. Who knows who else he had 'infected', so to speak.

"I guess we'll have to be careful."

"Indeed. Keep in mind this man knows the mole, so he will know who you are. But if you're quiet and discreet, you can be in and out fairly quickly. I would set this up fairly early on in the evening, myself-it would make sure people are still there."

She nodded. "Okay...so..." she thought. She was so new to this. "We go in. Just ask him about some sort of business with Rochefort Enterprises. Be quick. Leave and follow him?"

"In theory, yes. Let's hope it plays out that way."

Lili nervously looked at the table. She really didn't want to mess up, since it was sort of the company-and maybe her life-sort of on the line. But she didn't want to run anymore, and she did not want to let this mole possibly do worse than he has.

"Let's leave tonight, then."

Sergei looked at her and smiled. "I'll take care of the questioning after."

I'm pretty sure by the time you're done he'll have told you about the time he pushed someone into the mud in second grade.

–

It seemed too easy. This, of course, worried Lili.

It was so simple; Lars gave her the contact information, and Lili set up the meeting, simply asking about meeting up. They dressed and got ready, heading to the place of business delegated by the man they were meeting with; he went by the name of Mr. Harding; he appeared British due to his accent, but he could have been from anywhere, they figured.

Lili had no idea if that was even his name or not, but she didn't particularly care, since he likely was not going to live out the night if he tried anything funny.

For the meeting, she was dressed in a fairly casual outfit; she wanted the meeting to feel relaxed. He had eyed Sergei nervously, she recalled, but said nothing.

The meeting went on...though for longer than Lili would have liked. It was set for four-o'-clock PM, and she had expected to be done by five...but it was six-thirty and he was still discussing things; he had to deal with a few things in the middle and apologized. Since the office building was not emptied yet, Sergei thought it was in their best interests not to act; besides, they still had to tail the man to where he was staying, as they had to look through his things eventually.

They finally got done, and were heading downstairs around seven. Mr. Harding had left first, with the two tailing soon after; far enough that they did not look suspicious. They met up with Lars halfway down, who had basically been posing as a common guard; how they didn't notice him was beyond her but she didn't bother asking questions. He was wearing an outfit much like the rest; cargos, a flak vest, heavy combat boots and a jacket.

He and Sergei truly looked like military buddies like this, Lili thought, as Sergei was wearing something similar, albeit his trousers were dark gray camouflage instead and his jacket black. It made her grin.

They had to get downstairs and to the limo fairly quickly, as they had to tail the man.

As they walked down to the last floor-seemingly no cover being blown-five men wearing medium levels of body armor appeared by the door. They did not have helmets on, but they did have sidearms...and they did not look like the building's guards. No other people were on the bottom floor at this time.

He was in on it from the start, Lili thought. He knew who I was, but I guess he decided to take matters into his own hands.

While she was pretty sure the three of them could take them on-though she was a bit worried about the guns, as they looked like they were packing heavy caliber handguns-even if they did they would likely run out of time.

Sergei cracked his neck, seemingly ready to smash their heads in. Indeed, he appeared to be almost looking forward to it. Before he could move, Lili noticed Lars dash forward with an almost inhuman speed, ending up behind one of the men. He grabbed him by the hair, bent him over backward at the waist...and then yanked his hand with such a fury the sickening crackcould be heard from where they were. Blood poured freely from his mouth and nose as he dropped the man, his neck completely snapped in two. He looked up at the two of them after; the other men too shocked and confused by the split-second attack that they hadn't even taken their guns out of the holsters.

"I'll handle them. You go."

"Lars?" Lili asked.

"I owe them one, anyway. Get to the limo."

Lili's hair stood on end as she saw energy crackle around him. She looked up at Sergei as the two made their way for the door.

She looked at Lars again as he jumped, wheeling his right leg around in a ferocious overhead kick to one; as the man had finally started to move forward he practically ran right into his heavy boot as it connected right to his face. His momentum, coupled with Lars' strength, caused a sickening sound to echo that Lili was quite familiar with. His neck snapped from the blow, and his face was pretty well smashed in on top of it.

There's the side to him. He seems to enjoy it less than Sergei, but he is not afraid to go all out.

Another was hit with a charged double-fist to the chest; the guard's ribs audibly cracking and blood spewing from his mouth; no doubt his lungs were punctured, but Lars simply followed up by smashing one hand up against his chin, followed by another in quick succession; snapping his spine and killing him, but not before smashing his jaw rather nastily as well.

At this point, one man managed to dislodge his firearm; but Lars went low, sweeping him down and before he could recover smashed his boot-heel down onto the base of his skull, killing him instantly with a quick crunch. Blood oozed out onto the floor, pooling around his head.

He folded his arms, turning to look at the last guard.

He's not as...grotesquely brutal as Sergei, as he doesn't look like he butchered anyone, but he certainly is not to be pissed off in any way. I can see why Sergei may actually consider him a fighting buddy.

Good god, the carnage that would be left after that one.

In the time it took for them to reach the door, four men were dead and a fifth was backing away very slowly from the slightly blood-spattered man who happened to be coursing lightning here and there on his body, causing the lights to occasionally flicker.

They stole out through the door as they saw Lars kneed the man in the stomach, grabbing him by the neck with one hand and lifting him up as if he were a ragdoll.

They didn't hear the echoing crack that followed as the door closed right before he finished him.

They indeed got there in time; getting into the limo, they settled back. They let the driver know to get them-quickly-to the hotel Lars had mentioned.

Lili caught her breath, hoping he'd be okay. Sergei looked at her glancing out the window and smirked.

"He's fine."

She smiled. "He's not as bloody as you are."

Sergei gave her one of his more evil smirks. She chuckled. "So what will you do at the hotel?"

"Go question him."

Some moments later, they reached the hotel; it was a rather quick trip.

"Stay in the lobby," he said.

She frowned-but understood. "I'll wait. Call me when you get...through with him."

Sergei nodded, going toward the elevator.

Lili paced in the lobby. She debated going to the bar, but realized she wouldn't be able to probably keep still. She knew Sergei was going to be okay...but she was still nervous. This was her family involved, and they had to find out who the mole was in the company; at this point, he probably knew they were onto him.

She decided to sit down with a magazine-she found one in English-and read. She felt that maybe, just in case, it was a good idea to look fairly innocuous.

Roughly an hour passed before Sergei came down the elevator. Judging by his slightly damp hair at the front, he had washed his face and hands a bit. Looking him carefully up and down, she noticed a tiny bit of blood under his fingernails, on his collar, and on the fabric of his gray trousers that tucked into his boots. Likewise, there was a tiny bit on those as well, though you would have to look for it very closely. It was clear he 'cleaned up' a bit from something. She wondered what the room looked like.

Did he just torture a guy for my benefit? Is...um... She shook her head and looked up.

"So..."

"I have his name. Let's go."

She nodded, the two heading out to the limo.

The ride back was silent; they did not want to discuss anything around others. Upon getting back to the flat where they were staying, Sergei removed his jacket. She saw more blood spatter on his shirt. She cringed a little. She had seen him beat men to death, and brutally, but something disturbed her right now.

"Sergei...did you torture a guy for..."

He looked at her. "He was one of the people who helped set up the man who shot you...and who had been responsible for something with your father as well."

Her expression went from slightly disturbed...to rather neutral at those words. That changes things.

She was a bit disturbed again, though-on how quickly her mind changed. She shook it off. My family is my family. He would have tried to kill us. It was a necessary evil, if one could even call it that.

"So he talked. I guess he's...not alive."

He snorted. That told her everything. She figured that he called in some favors afterward.

"He talked. The man's name-who was pretending to work for your company-is actually Sullivan Davis-from the UK-and he's been with the Zaibatsu for ten years."

Lili wondered just what Sergei did to get that sort of specific info, but she decided not to ask. "Is he here?"

"He's in Berlin. Probably planning his next move."

"Well-we should get back!" She wanted to get this over with. He had gone too far.

"Agreed." At that moment, there was a knock. Lili jumped. Sergei turned toward her. "It's just Lars."

He walked to the door, letting the other man in. Lars snorted. "Just Lars?"

Sergei did not dignify that with a response, but turned around to get the ashtray out. "Are you coming with us?" he asked, pointedly.

Lars nodded. "I can help find a few others that might be hiding."

"I thought so."

Lili blinked. "You're going to come along?"

Lars looked at her and smiled. "We hadn't fought together in awhile, besides."

"In...awhile?" Lili was thoroughly confused now.

"I'm sad he never mentioned it."

Sergei just snorted, offering him a smoke and taking out a bottle of vodka along with glasses. He took out some wine for Lili. Lili looked at everything, realized what was transpiring, and laughed.

Sergei...really did have a battle buddy? Oh my god.

"Actually, I think I can use a shot."

Sergei smirked, pouring out three. Lars grabbed it, lighting his smoke. "During the time I was breaking out from the Zaibatsu, Sergei was investigating in the same area. We had met on a couple of occasions. One of them we had to deal with a rather large amount of soldiers."

Sergei sipped his drink, silent.

"Your...bodyguard there is a little excessive..."

Lili had to laugh at that. The laugh had a slight dark tone.

"...But we fought through them, and then a couple more times. We kept in touch now and again."

Sergei silently nodded. "I trusted him," was all he said.

Lili simply shook her head, not quite believing this. She would have thought it was almost cute if the scenes afterward hadn't likely looked like someone took a blender to the room.

"Anyway," Lars drank off his vodka. "I'll follow you there, as to not set off any suspicions. I'll tell you anything I find out when I get there."

Lili smiled. "Thanks again. I feel...hopeful for once finally that we'll end this."

Sergei nodded. He stood as Lars finished his cigarette. Lars held out his hand...and to Lili's surprise he took it, shaking it firmly.

Lars smirked, patting her shoulder. "It'll be fine. He'll make sure of it." He nodded toward him, before he turned and left.

Lili looked over at Sergei afterward, folding her arms. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think it was important."

She snorted. "I won't say anything."

He smirked at her as he stood, running the back of his hand down her face. "We should get going soon. Take care of the flight."

"Right," she said. Before she could turn to leave, Sergei bent over to meet her in a kiss; a rather deep one. Long enough to get Lili squirming a bit. She smiled as he walked off to get his things together. She knew he'd probably have to go away for a few days to a week after returning to Monaco, but she just wanted to tie this off and take advantage of the rest of the time in the best way she knew how.

Let's end this. Hopefully this will buy my father some piece of mind for a few months, at least.

She turned back to the stairs as Sergei climbed them, his heavy footsteps muffled by the carpet. She smiled.

Thank you, Sergei.


	21. Chapter 21

div class="preface group" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a;"  
h2 class="title heading" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 2.143em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.429em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; clear: right; text-align: center;"Blood Price/h2  
h3 class="byline heading" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; background: transparent; text-align: center;"a style="color: #666666; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer;" href=" /users/Fenris30/pseuds/Fenris30" rel="author"Fenris30/a/h3  
div class="summary module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.643em; position: relative; width: auto; float: none; min-height: 5em;"  
h3 class="heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; background: transparent; border-style: initial initial solid initial;"Summary:/h3  
blockquote class="userstuff" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 1em; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.643em; padding: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; word-wrap: break-word;"  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px auto 1.286em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Possibly having the mole cornered, the three end up back at Lili's place in Berlin, hopefully to finish everything...if he hadn't taken off yet. Having enlisted the help of Lars Alexandersson, his old ties to some people in the Zaibatsu allowed him to help uncover the mole, though not his full motives. Will they manage to get to him in time before he does something drastic?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The final story in the first arc of "Reticent Watcher."/p  
/blockquote  
/div  
div class="notes module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.643em; position: relative; width: auto; float: none; clear: right; min-height: 5em;"  
h3 class="heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; background: transparent; border-style: initial initial solid initial;"Notes:/h3  
p class="jump" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 0px 0.643em; padding: 0px;"(See the end of the work for a style="color: #666666; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer;" href=" /chapters/10048280#work_endnotes"notes/a.)/p  
/div  
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div id="chapter-1" class="chapter" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"  
div class="chapter preface group" style="border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; border-style: solid initial initial initial;"  
h3 class="title" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: 400; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1.286em; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.5375em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; background: transparent; text-align: center;"a style="color: #666666; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer;" href=" /works/4416068/chapters/10031600"Chapter 1/a/h3  
/div  
div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 929.469px; float: none; word-wrap: break-word;"  
h3 id="work" class="landmark heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0.25em; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 500; font-style: inherit; font-size: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0.125em; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; height: 0px; clear: both; color: transparent; border-color: initial initial #333333 initial; border-style: initial initial double initial;"Chapter Text/h3  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The two had returned to Berlin without any issues. They were picked up at the airport, reporting home that the business meeting went well. It technically wasn't a lie; they were there on business, they met up with some people, and it did-for all intents and purposes-go well./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Now, Sergei and Lili had to tread lightly to make sure they did not inform the mole that they were onto him. They suspected if the condition of the utterly brutalized corpse of the other man had been leaked-Sergei did call in favors to get rid of that one-the man might indeed know what was up, since he probably would have guessed who had been at him. Still, Sergei had not heard anything otherwise. The mole had stepped out of Berlin temporarily, but they suspected he would be back after regrouping./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili opened the door to the penthouse as Sergei dropped whatever luggage they had in the corner. She walked over to her perfectly made bed to sit on the edge; she lay back after a few moments. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"It's good to be back in luxury,/span she thought to herself. The place in Stockholm had been nice; but Lili was still a little on the spoiled side./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sergei walked over to the table, which was made up for her already. He sat, tapping a cigarette out of his pack to light it before checking his phone./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Lars should be arriving at some point," he said./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili nodded. "I can set him up in a place nearby."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He smirked for a moment. He figured that Lars would be quite surprised to see his accommodations, as he had likely never stayed anywhere so nice before./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili continued to relax on the large bed, watching Sergei smoke his cigarette. She knew he hadn't actually had one in awhile. He wasn't the heaviest smoker around-he barely even scratched through six or so a day on average. Sometimes he went with just one after dinner. More stressful times would see him with a few extra, however. He was mostly staring out the window, watching it get dark; it was a clear, cold day and the sunset looked rather brilliant from where they were. He would occasionally glance back over to her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She leaned over to grab a tablet out of the nightstand; she decided to start to check a few of her messages. She thought perhaps a few friends had decided to get in touch with her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"As she looked over her tablet, she heard Sergei get up and move around a bit; perhaps getting a drink. He then came over to lay next to her on the bed...and his hand found her stomach. She looked over to smile at him, putting the tablet away./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Before she could day anything he leaned in to kiss her deeply; his hand moving around to her rear end already. She squirmed a moment before settling in, her own arm sliding under his as they lay on their sides. She smiled./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Okay then...I guess he's interested in something or other./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She knew span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"exactly/span what that was, and she was not about to stop him. She felt his hands begin to start to remove her shirt. She paused a second to sit up to take a few of her clothes off; mostly just her shirt and bra at the moment as he removed his own. She leaned in, feeling the skin contact again and relaxing against him as she nipped at his neck./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili had settled into her new highly sexual lifestyle very nicely. She never thought she would be that sort of person; before Sergei had come along right before her eighteenth birthday-which was now about a year and a half ago-the guys she had dated just never had that edge to them. She wasn't what you would call prudish or against it; she was simply very particular of what she looked for. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Even though Sergei could never be more than an affair that could end at any time, she happily embraced this new life./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He lay back, pulling her down on top of him. He smirked before he flicked his tongue against her lips and then inside; he bit a bit at her lip as her moans grew in intensity. His hands touched her just the way she liked; firm, almost rough...but not span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"truly /spanpainful. Lili, as it was, preferred things fairly intense, and Sergei could deliver. The feeling was mutual-Lili's body was well-cared for, toned and athletic; Sergei liked how he was able to be more intense with her. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""You aren't waiting," she said, breathing heavily. He did get started rather quickly upon their return./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He just shrugged and pulled her back. He had been span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"quite/span hungry for her lately-even moreso than what was normal. Maybe he felt it was due to everything that had happened-and still may happen. He also knew he would have to go back for awhile at some point in the near future-and perhaps wanted to take advantage of what time they had./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Plus, there was the fact he genuinely felt for her, so it made the pleasure that much better./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He nipped at her lip some more, pulling her back down to him; he enjoyed the skin contact as well. He began to try to work her underwear off; she was wearing a skirt, which made it fairly easy, though she had to reposition a bit./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili chuckled-a bit evilly, to be sure. She sort of knew what she was going to do in a bit, but she waited a little. Laying back down on him, she met him again in a deep kiss, his hands now running up and down her nude body. She started to try to pull off his trousers-his only article of clothing left-but sort of got distracted from his hands on her rear end and thighs./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She broke the kiss, nipping his lower lip one last time as she started to crawl up him and position her knees on either side of his head, hovering just above his mouth. She grinned down at him as she rest her head on the padded headboard, feeling his hands move up to massage her thighs for a moment, before going to her waist. His tongue slid out to stroke her from back to front; only the tip slid over he midsection, causing small gasps to escape her throat./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She knew he was going to tease her in this position before he let her sit all the way down on him. She knew he loved this position though-it gave him full access to everything and he was completely surrounded by all of her most intimate areas./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She quite liked it herself, for obvious reasons./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He pulled her closer, slowly licking her around; he always started off slowly to turn her on even more. She positioned so she was fairly well sitting now, one hand holding onto the backboard and the other sliding through his hair as she looked down; he glanced up at her a moment before closing his eyes and beginning to tease her faster./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sergei had to shift around a little; the moment she positioned over him he almost started to become painfully hard. She knew how much she was able to turn him on with certain actions./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He opened his mouth wider, licking her more and more roughly as she became more aroused; on of his hands went around to her rear to rub and begin to slide around more toward the center to add a bit of extra teasing for a few moments as she gasped. She squealed a bit louder as he began to suck at her clit, nipping ever so lightly at it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"This always tested his self control to it's limits; her movements directly on his face, her loud moans, and being surrounded by her was enough to make him want to begin to use his own hand on himself. He considered it more than once; he could just continue to go down on her until he got hard again-he liked it, he knew she liked it, and it would only extend the session./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He knew she liked to return the favor, though-they could switch positions after this if they wanted./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili heard his breathing get heavier as she kept moving her hips rhythmically against him; she was so incredibly wet and turned on right now she was biting her lip, trying desperately not to yell out. He always figured out something new to do, and whatever it was it always felt amazing; right now his tongue was buried quite deeply inside of her as he massaged her thighs. He lifted her up just for a moment to tease her some more; she could feel more of the wetness on her thighs from his face, which was just plain hot to her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He pulled her down again, continuing where he left off. Both of them lost track of any sort of time; and neither cared. They had nothing this day./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sergei began to move his tongue faster against her, pressing his mouth closer as he sought to make her come; she felt herself going over the edge and with a low cry let go; continuing to hold on tightly to the headboard, trembling as he drank her in. She finally finished, catching her breath and staying there for a moment as he lifted her slightly, though teased her a bit more./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He looked up at her questioningly; she knew if he was asking if she wanted to stay in that position or not. She smirked down, turning around to let him completely loose from his trousers as she heard him chuckle low. She barely got a chance to begin teasing him with her tongue as he began to lick slowly at her again, her sensitivity increased. He swirled his tongue around her opening, enjoying the taste of her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"After shaking out of it, she began to concentrate on pleasuring him; as difficult as it was she was getting to be pretty good at the mutual pleasure thing. One hand teased him underneath as the other massaged his huge leg; she slowly started to take him deep, sucking first lightly at him, letting her tongue run around it's length. He was a very admirably sized man-at first, their first time took her a bit to get used to during actual sex, but she adjusted rather quickly. She loved his low moans and even small almost growls that came from his throat when she did this. He was usually so good at controlling his emotions that when he expressed himself, she knew how pleased he was./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He arched his back slightly when he felt her take him deeper; she knew how to pleasure him and he loved it. He thrust his hips slightly, though he let her control it mostly. He was quite good at keeping focus on his own activity at the moment, as he brought his hands up to hold her tighter as he dragged his tongue up and down her, going up a little further yet to do a bit of teasing; after he discovered she liked this-she did squeal audibly louder-he would do this from time to time./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He was so turned on at this point that with some more motions down at her end-taking him deep and sucking him harder, her tongue going up and down his shaft as she did so-she could hear his breathing grow heavier and feel him stop concentrating as hard on pleasing her as he threw his head back to allow himself to go over himself. She pulled back to tease the head a bit, flicking her tongue over it and sucking at it, hearing him moan just a bit louder as she took him deep and felt him tense in orgasm. She heard him growl low, holding onto her rear as he came, thrusting his hips a bit as she swallowed. He lay back, panting as she finished him off and let him go, resting her head on his leg./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"After a few moments, panting, he nudged closer to slide his tongue back into her folds again, focusing on her clit to bring her over the edge again. He heard her moan out loudly; she was span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"so /spansensitive at the moment. He knew this and kept teasing her; he wanted her to come even stronger than before./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"This wasn't hard to make her do; as he sucked at her clit he finally brought her over, bringing his tongue up to lick furiously at her as she came, coating his tongue with her taste. When he felt her finish, he pushed forward again to clean her off before laying back and letting her roll off of him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She slowly changed position; when she saw him she giggled rather loudly. He sat up, smoothing down his hair-his face considerably wetter than normal due to the positions he was in. He licked his lips, wiping his face off with his fingers for a moment. He smirked at her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"There was a time I wouldn't have thought this sort of thing was hot. Those times are long, long gone./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She crawled forward to lean next to him; he removed his trousers the rest of the way, as he knew they would soon need a shower. It would likely take him a little while to recover-they could probably have sex later on. Her heavy-lidded eyes let him know she was quite pleasured at the moment./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She had practically gone to sleep under his arm before she snapped back, realizing she wanted a shower. He hadn't budged yet-not even for his cigarette./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I should move before I don't want to./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"–/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili looked out of her window, sipping a cup of strong coffee. After the flight and everything else, she needed to wake up. She would have to go meet with her household and have a conference meeting with her father online. They had both gotten dressed, just in case someone came to the door./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She looked over at Sergei, relaxing on the couch. He had a cup as well, skipping the vodka for once as he clearly would have preferred going to sleep as well, but he had a lot to do. He would likely have to send in a few reports-he was, technically, fighting the same enemies that he would be fighting at home and he'd have to let them know who was still alive or not. The cigarette hung from his fingers as he sat back, staring out the other window. He glanced back over at her and smiled a moment./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She liked how comfortable he seemed to be getting. He never showed anything resembling this if he was in the vicinity of anyone else, but here he seemed somewhat relaxed-about as relaxed as he could ever be. Lili mused that he always looked ready for span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"something/span, though./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He suddenly checked his phone; he fiddled with it a moment before looking over at her again. "Lars is on his way here." He chuckled once./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili smiled. "Good thing he decided to come now. That was fast."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sergei nodded. "He's reliable."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I'll go have more coffee delivered. He seems to be a fan."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""It is popular in the north, yes."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili smirked, contacting a servant to prepare a very large pot, along with some food on the side. She very much liked being back where she could be waited on again. She went about to straighten everything up in her room, making it look like they didn't just dive directly onto the bed and engage in oral sex for the past hour./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"One of these days, I'm going to forget something, and questions may be asked. I have no idea how I'll respond./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She tried not to think about it too much. Truth of the matter was-she was now nineteen; she knew he father wouldn't disown her. He cared too much. But she really had no idea. She knew he likely wouldn't hire Sergei; he scared him a bit too much. Even though Lili was perfectly happy where they were-she would not want him to be cut off. She might have to go find him herself at that point. She knew Sergei wouldn't be too happy there, either; though she also had a feeling he would try to find her./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She would have been right on that./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Servants arrived, rolling in a large cart-a very fancy version of what one might get room service on-which had on all manner of things. Lili smiled. She had gotten dressed into something casual; she would not be doing anything with the business for a couple of days. Sergei was about as casual as he got./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sergei got a call soon after as Lili sat with her laptop, catching up on a few things. He nodded, walking downstairs to go get Lars. He had been to Berlin before, but was not familiar with this place./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"As he brought him inside, his eyes widened for a moment. He smiled. "I knew you guys were loaded, but..."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili laughed. "It's okay. It works for me while I'm on this internship." She stood, walking over. "Take what you want," she said, pointing toward the cart. Sergei excused himself to go to the other room for a few moments./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lars wandered about for awhile, drinking coffee and checking over everything. He seemed quite amused that she would call this "okay", as for anyone else it would be full-blown luxury. She thought he may just pass out if he saw the manor./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He finally walked back over. Lili had already taken out a lot of money before today; she figured she would deal in cash. She had a feeling the mole was not completely stupid, and she decided using cash to set Lars up would be a lot less noticeable./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sergei came back in, chuckling at Lars growing wide-eyed as Lili counted out an enormous pile of euros; everything from twenty to five-hundred euro bills. She handed him the huge stack./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Let me know if you need more. I have you reserved at the finest hotel in the center."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lars blinked, sliding a cigarette out of his pack and offering one to Sergei, who took it. "Are you sure I need that...fancy...place? I mean isn't that a bit...lavish?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili chuckled. "Exactly. They'll never suspect an ordinary soldier staying there."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sergei smirked at her as he lit his smoke, going back into the other room. He knew how clever she was./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lars smiled. "You're right. I was planning on going the other way underground. But, well, since you're offering..." He sat next to her, taking a drag of the cigarette. He couldn't complain; he was originally planning on getting the dingiest place he could find. "I'll start hunting up information after I'm settled, though I suspect Sergei already did a lot of that." He gave her a slightly knowing look, and chuckled. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that mole for much longer-if I know Sergei, he's going to hunt him to the ends of the earth."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili blinked. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Does he know something? He gave me a look...oh gods. /spanShe quickly whipped up a response./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Of course-you know him and his duty."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Yes. I also know him and his dedication." Lars smirked. "We've known for a bit of time. Maybe we don't see often. But I can say this much-he has never looked at another human being like that in that time-and I don't think he ever has before, either."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She glanced off to the side, going to fix herself a second cup of coffee. "Please don't tell," was all she could think to say./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Never."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Did he..."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Not a word. You know him, it's all you can do to get words out of him." He laughed. "And he's not that obvious either. He's span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"never/span done it in public, even the times no one was around. He didn't even do it in private more than a couple of times...but it was all it took." He leaned back. "I think he trusted me, though. I don't think he would have if he didn't."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""When did you figure it out?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""When we were having the long discussion." He chuckled. "He might like to poke at me a bit..."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lili blinked; she had no idea Sergei liked to poke at span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"anyone /spanjokingly...except for her, of course./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""...Just a bit," he continued. "But I am quite perceptive. You don't live as long as I have in my situation if you aren't."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She nodded./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He took another drag of the smoke. "I just wanted to say that at this point, I can tell he will not stop until that mole is punished. I would really, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"really/span hate to be him as well. He's doing this for more than just his duty."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I know. /spanIt always gave her stomach flutters to know this, despite how much they had done. It drove home that it was more than a fling, even if they couldn't actually span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"be /spanmore./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I know it can't be anymore than what we have," she said. "But I don't think it matters."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lars smiled again. "It doesn't."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"At those words, she felt she noticed a presence moving away from the door./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Anyway," he said, finishing his coffee and grabbing a sandwich off the fine plate, which he apparently intended to eat on the road. "I'll get going. I'll let you guys know when I know anything, which will be soon. Let me get settled in. I'll find where Sullivan is, since he should be back in the country now."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Trying to hide among the other workers, probably," she said. Sergei walked out at that moment, nodding to Lars, who returned it with a smirk./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Take care. Both of you," he said, pulling his long jacket back on and saluted./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"When he left, Lili pretended to walk around as if Sergei hadn't heard anything. She sipped at her coffee and made like she was looking about the food tray. She heard him walk up behind her and felt his hand on her cheek for a brief moment. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She leaned back into him as his arm went around her; she looked up as he leaned over to kiss her once. He reached his scarred hand over to touch the side of her face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"As always, neither one had to say anything./p  
/div  
/div  
/div 


	22. Chapter 22

Sergei woke earlier than normal; he knew he would have things to plan. Lars would be back today, and the three would have to put something together.

Lili had already decided her role; she would simply go on, business as usual, and try to get the mole-it wasn't even worth remembering his name as he was a dead man anyway-back to the Berlin headquarters if he wasn't already there. The potential issues-besides other people on his side, or on the Zaibatsu's payroll-was how much he knew about what transpired. If he knew too much, he could take off rather quickly, to come back yet another day in the future.

She wasn't sure how far his influence ran. They suspected not too terribly far; he likely only had a fairly small amount left working for him. To be fair, she sort of thought they had a good plan...but they hadn't accounted for the wrenches in the gears. Namely Sergei being around and Lili being a damn sight more clever than they thought a somewhat spoiled young lady in her late teens could be.

Lili stirred when she heard Sergei moving about; he had spent the night in her place. He would do that from time to time. It was easy enough to make up an excuse; all of the servants knew he was her bodyguard, and they knew about the heightened security. Of course, they had no idea what actually went on when he stayed there, but that was just how they wanted it.

She shivered; it was quite cold now, being well into November. She pulled the blankets up a bit; she was naked, of course. She was in quite a good mood waking up, as one tends to be after going to bed to some rather excellent sex.

Sergei looked at her as he pulled on his trousers. He watched as she eventually slid the covers off and looked over her body; he wanted badly to lean forward to begin kissing it...and much more. He knew he shouldn't though. Once again, this was one of those times that he was grateful for his self-control. There would be time later.

She smiled at him, apparently thinking the same thing. She threw a gown and her robe on and called to the servants to begin preparing breakfast. She thought she would get extra to accommodate for their guest who would likely be arriving in an hour.

She said nothing as she went to the shower-simply smiling.

I'm totally getting this quiet thing down.

–

Lars arrived on time; he usually was. He put his jacket up and sat at the table, quite impressed with the giant cart of food the servants had brought up. Lili still insisted on treating any guests as best she could; sure, some of it was that she liked flaunting her status a bit, but she did feel she owed Lars at least a little.

"The place you got me is pretty amazing," he said, taking a seat.

Lili smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

Sergei smirked at her before turning back.

"So," Lars started. "Sullivan-the mole-has a few other people working for him. Mostly disguised as guards, they're more...higher-ranked soldiers in the Tekken Force. I know the type. They are more like black ops-they take the dirty work."

"Do you know who they are?" Lili asked.

"No, but they won't be too hard to root out. If we lean on a few people, Sullivan may make a move to attempt to strengthen his position."

"How does one man expect to take over a company?" Lili pondered.

It was Sergei who spoke. "By simply wearing your father down."

"He's not working alone. He probably has even more above him, yet they aren't really involved," Lars added. "He probably has easy access to soldiers and grunts, as well."

"So attacks can happen anywhere," Lili sighed.

"It's why we need to stay a step ahead."

Sergei simply sat and listened as he smoked a cigarette.

"We're probably better off if we go for them first." Lars continued. "Gives us the element of surprise."

"Why is Sullivan so hard to find?" Lili asked. "I mean, he's here in Berlin or at least close. He's obviously planting ideas around and moving people around to try to get to me to break my father."

Sergei leaned forward. "He's probably hiding in plain sight."

"A smart move, too," Lars said. "He knows we're looking for hidden stuff. So he's probably hiding in places we're not even thinking of. Though we have dealt enough blows to him that, again, I think he'll make a move."

"Do you think he'd actually...bring out heavier guns this time?" Lili frowned.

"Probably."

The three were quiet for awhile. It was frustrating...since they really couldn't think of anything to trulyplan. Sergei spoke again.

"We should just keep an eye out and wait until they move. Then trap them."

For once, the other two did not find it necessary to speak. They simply nodded in agreement.

Lili took a bite of the food, milling things over.

Make your move, mole. We have you now.

–

The messages came rather early the next day. Lili turned over, fumbling for her phone, since it kept blasting more messages through. She was alone this night, since it was one of the nights they decided to stay apart, for discretion.

Rubbing her eyes, she started at the phone; the messages seemed to be from Sebastian. Half-asleep, it took her awhile to realize there was a sense of urgency in them. Finally waking up, she sat up to re-read them.

Trouble here, it said. They are threatening your father again, only directly.

They've threatened to come for you, they've threatened to let certain secrets go.

This feels even worse than their usual antics.

My lady, please be careful.

Lili read over these notes again. They want to blackmail him. They're trying to strike home. They may try to strike me again.

She shivered, pulling the blanket around herself from the back. She wanted to end this soon; she was surprised how much trouble just a few people could cause.

Well, it was only a few people who tried to kidnap me, but they weren't so great at it, compared to this bunch.

She got out of bed, pressing the button on the coffeemaker before pulling the robe about herself. She then sent a call to Sergei's room; she knew he would be awake, as he was usually up around six. She didn't know how he did it, but his military manner was ingrained into him so deeply she figured it would never leave. All she would do was send a message to his phone, and he would show up.

She began to get dressed after she sent it. Sergei, naturally, did not take long to get to her room during this time. He simply knocked twice and let himself in; this was his way of telling her it was him. He had a key, as well; Lili had made sure he had one. Her bodyguard ought to be able to come and go, after all.

He saw her, nodding as he always did, giving her a small smile. He walked up to her, giving the side of her face a fast stroke before kissing her once lightly. Lili appreciated his increase in affectionate gestures, even if they were small.

"This," she said, showing him Sebastian's messages.

He looked over them, frowning. He read through them a few times. "Was he specific about anything else?"

Lili shook her head. "See...Sebastian or my father don't know about the gunman. So they don't know how bad it's gotten on this side. I'm guessing they're going to continue to attempt to threaten me to get him to bend."

"Will he?"

"I need to speak to him and tell him no. I think we'll be able to take care of things here."

"Of course." Sergei sat, pulling a cigarette out of his pack. Lili walked into the other room, calling her father.

"Dad?"

"Lili? Oh, god. Is everything okay there? The...these threats. They are telling me they are sending people after you if I don't listen."

"Dad, don't worry. Sergei's here with me, remember? He's with me at every meeting. He's staying right below my place." And sometimes in it.

"Lili, I do wish that maybe you'd come home..."

"And let them win? No. We can't. We can't show weakness to them."

"But..."

"Dad," she interrupted. "If you bend once, they'll keep coming. You're safe there. You have all the guards. Great ones. Sergei here has killed more of the Zaibatsu than you'd like to know."

"I..." Lili could hear him almost shudder on the other line. He was a pacifist, she knew all too well. "Just be careful. Please. If you think you need to come back early, then please. Don't trifle with them."

"It's only some more weeks. I'll be home for the holidays." She fiddled with a few things on her desk. "Don't give up. We're stronger than they think."

"We will be on higher alert. Lili, I love you. Please..."

"We'll be fine here."

"I will be giving them a bonus. The military."

"I think they wouldn't argue with that."

"Some of it will go to Mr. Dragunov personally," he continued. "For his continued duties."

It's so weird to hear him refer to a younger man as that. Especially Sergei. She had to sort of choke down a giggle at his comment, though. He's doing just fine in his duties, yes. That one phrase lightened her mood quite a bit.

"I love you, Dad. Hang on."

"Yes. Goodbye-don't hesitate to call."

"I won't." She hung up the phone. He worries a lot. As always.

She walked back into the other room. Sergei had probably not picked up most of the conversation; they were speaking French. His French was limited; as many military people would do, he picked up bits of many languages and actually spoke three or four fairly fluently, though French was a bit limited for him. He had gotten a little better, though, spending so much time around people who spoke it.

She looked at the table, Sergei taking a drag of his cigarette. There was fresh coffee waiting for her. She smiled at him.

"I didn't know that was part of your duties," she said, walking over to him to press her forehead to his, kissing him a few times before sighing at the situation. She stood back up.

Sergei just shrugged, smirking.

"Need to do some things today. I'll take a shower later."

He nodded, sitting back in his chair to watch her get her coffee ready.

It was one of those moments where he didn't have to say anything, but he somehow made her feel much better.

–

The day passed without any more issue. Lili was happy to shower and be able to maybe relax before tonight.

Lili was considering getting dressed again soon; she only had on her underwear and a thin, silk tank top at the moment. Sergei was mostly naked himself except for his cargoes-he had just showered as well not long ago. He looked over at her for a few moments before walking over. He knew she was tense...and when he touched her, she quickly slid her arms up under his to kiss him deeply. She knew where this was going, and where she wanted it to go.

He pushed her over to the wall as he kissed her intensely; his huge hands sliding down her arms and back. He traced his lips down her neck nipping her lightly as he went to a breast to trace his tongue around.

She felt his kisses move downward more; she knew that they would have to leave again soon, but they could get into things quickly. She exhaled as she felt him kiss between her legs; he knew her body so well now that she knew he could get her off soon. Even when they had fast sessions, he never seemed to skip over foreplay. As she lifted one of her legs up to rest over his shoulder as he positioned his mouth over her to lick her, she knew he liked it far too much to skip it.

She threw her head back and moaned; his ministrations increased in intensity quickly. She could hear his own breathing grow heavier, along with the wet sounds of his mouth as he drove to bring her to orgasm. She grabbed his head as he squeezed her rear; he suddenly turned her around to tease her from behind. She cried out a bit loud at this.

He's more intense than usual today, she thought before she felt him begin to tease her quickly even more as her knees shook. She was very glad to have excellent balance right now.

Sergei sort of knew in the back of his head he would have to leave soon; he knew she had been stressed a bit more than usual lately, and found himself becoming a little more sensitive to this. Sometimes, he could just lie there next to her and offer his usual wordless comfort-other times, he felt that she very much enjoyed pleasure. This was one of those times.

He massaged her rear as he continued to tease her for a few more moments to her moaning gasps; he turned her back around to kiss her thighs a few moments; she shuddered as he bit lightly at them. He then slid his tongue back between her legs to swirl around her clit and thrust around inside of her for some time. Both of her hands rubbed the back of his head, holding him there; her actions and sounds told him that she was looking to get off soon.

She looked down at him, her eyes growing a bit heavy, she smiled as he met her gaze a second before he drove to bring her over. Sucking at her clit a bit roughly, she thrust her hips forward and came after a few more moments, her knees shaking. It felt exceptionally good this time. Not that it ever felt anything but good, of course-but there were times it felt even better than others.

Sergei pulled back, licking her a few more moments before standing. He licked his lips and wiped his mouth; he regret that he probably shouldn't keep going, due to time. He went over to the bed to sit on the edge; he prepared as Lili caught her breath to walk over. She did something surprising, however; after she kissed him once, she turned around and slid on top of him that way. She had wanted to know what this felt like; he was still inside of her normally, though turned around it did feel a bit different. She quite liked it as she settled down, his arms wrapping around her as he kissed her shoulder. He moaned low, as it felt a little different to him as well.

She began to move up and down, he helping her out with his thrusts. The pleasure he gave before left her soaked; he was beyond good with his mouth at this point and it never took long to get her ready for anything else.

She moaned louder as his other hand ran up and down her leg, stroking her thigh, enjoying the way her toned muscle felt under his scarred hand. He nipped at her shoulder lightly as she began to ride him faster, her head dipping down as both of their breathing grew heavier. He very much liked this position and wanted to try it again.

After a few more moments, Lili tensed up as she felt him thrust faster and finally come himself; he bit down a bit harder on her shoulder, though was still careful. He uttered his usual low moan; the sound that Lili always loved to hear. They both slowed as he finished, staying together in that same position for some time. They separated after a short bit, though Lili stayed a few moments more, Sergei's large hand stroking her stomach from behind and his head resting on her shoulder. He finally slid off the bed to sit next to it, Lili joining him off to the side, leaning against him as his arm slid around her. He smirked down at her, pushing back a few locks of her hair.

"Not much time," he said.

Lili shook her head. "We'll come back to this." She stood, kissing him lightly on the mouth. This feels far too natural now. What's it going to be like without this? She sighed, turning to get ready.

They had some things to take care of. Worrying could come later.


	23. Chapter 23

Today was lining up to be a busy one. Mostly, Lili just had to write reports at her place first-which she hated-and then talk to a few other people just on the phone. She had less problem here. Then she had to write out a few emails.

Finally, she had a rather quick meeting thrown together at a restaurant she had not been to before; and it was a late one. She wondered why they had to meet this late, but they had explained that they were traveling in from London, and that the only flight they could catch would put them in Berlin in the early evening, which meant they would only be available later...and they were busy the next day. In addition, it was a private meeting...so that would mean no other people allowed.

Not even Sergei.

Lili had gotten the tiniest bit of apprehension, but she quickly pushed it down, chalking it up to having been under a lot of stress lately. She had other meetings like that, after all.

This happens. I occasionally jump at shadows. I really shouldn't.

She thought she was sort of silly for that; while being prudent was important, she knew how to take care of herself-even better as the time goes by-and she had probably one of the world's most dangerous bodyguards who had already killed a dozen or so enemies for her. More than that, in fact. She really felt she shouldn't have to worry, but the stress can wear on a person...particularly after the threats that had come the other day.

She sat down with a large coffee and got to work. There wasn't much else to do.

Lili had chosen a rather casual outfit; she wasn't sure why, but she didn't really feel like dressing up tonight. She still felt somewhat...off. She tried to shake the feeling, but couldn't. To be frank, she could sense something coming off of Sergei as well; the two knew each other very well, and seemed to be able to tell.

They got into the limo and rode there; it was about twenty minutes away from her place, so it wasn't even far. On the way, Lili spoke up.

"Where will you be?"

"There is a hotel above the restaurant. I will see what might be going on there. I'm keeping in touch with Lars right now."

She nodded. "I'll get in touch if I sense trouble."

He looked at her. "Be careful."

She stepped inside, one man there nodding. He bowed and went to the back as Lili sat down.

She got a bit of a cold chill.

What did I walk into?

–

Sergei was heading up to the nearly-vacant looking hotel. He suspected his concern was correct-and Lars had told him as much that he thought something was up. He knew there were enemies around this hotel, now...it was just a matter of finding them.

He knew he had to soon, as Lili was alone downstairs. He trusted her skill...but he did not trust the enemies who knew she was skilled, and may come after her with something beyond her level.

In the restaurant, Lili got a bit of that cold chill again. Maybe it was because it was empty. Maybe it was because she was alone.

I've been set up.

She realized that now, and felt a bit silly. I should have known better. Private meeting? Evening? In the winter when it's dark?

She felt incredibly stupid, but now was not the time to chastise herself. She felt like she should get out, now...but carefully, lest a gun be trained on her.

She crept around, suddenly hearing the floorboards creak. She stepped off to the side, away from any windows or doors, hoping they didn't have a large-caliber weapon on them...whoever it was.

Peeking around the corner, she saw a woman. She couldn't tell how old; she only looked about in her twenties, though that could mean anything as Lili herself looked older than nineteen. She had medium-length blonde hair and otherwise looked pretty, though professional. She seemed to be wearing a sort of feminine business suit.

She's not here to be my friend or join the company, I don't think.

She looked shorter than Lili, though women on average tended to be. She was built seemingly slim though also seemed to get regular exercise; it was hard to tell through the suit. Lili found herself sizing her up as she could sense there would be a fight; the way the place was empty and how she was there...and how she kept checking under her jacket for something. Possibly a weapon.

While she likely had more raw training than Lili-even though Lili felt she had improved nicely over the years-she also had a reach disadvantage. She did not know how quick she could move just by looking. She began to think that she could try to keep her at a distance, perhaps.

As Lili went to move off to the side, she bumped the chair. She noticed the woman perk up.

Shit. I may have gotten the drop on her.

She braced herself, stepping back to give herself room and to put a few chairs and tables between them. The woman walked out, spotting Lili and getting a small smile on her face.

"Hello," she said, politely. "I'll need you to come with me."

"For what?" Lili replied. She didn't bother returning the greeting.

"Someone has interest in you. We don't want anything bad to happen, do we?"

"I'm not the one worried about that." Truth be told, she was a bit-but she would not show weakness to this stranger.

"Your father didn't bend to us. So...perhaps he needs some more encouragement. If you come along, nothing will happen to you. Trust us."

"Trust you?" Lili snorted.

"Only if you come along."

"If I don't?" Lili replied, stubbornly.

The woman smiled. "I'll have to take you by force:" She pulled a long knife from her jacket.

"How stereotypical are you?" Lili sneered. It was like something out of a movie. "At least try." She thought by taunting, she could unnerve the woman. She did not want to show weakness.

The woman scowled and charged. Lili could tell this woman was much more experienced...so she'd have to use smarts as well. She knew how dangerous knives could be; they could kill in an instant with one good stab.

She went on the defensive. She knew some of the maneuvers Sergei had taught her to disarm, but she was swinging with the knife in a controlled and careful manner. Lili decided to try a bit of offense; she went low to sweep, but the woman anticipated and swung around to slice at her arm; Lili cried out from the sting. She didn't think it went deep...but she already could imagine the scar.

I need to be more careful...

She went back to defensive, ducking and rolling out of the way, springing back to her feet. She feigned another dodge but came around to kick the woman in the chest; this hit home and she fell back, trying to catch her breath. She held onto the knife, though; she managed to recover her feet before Lili could come in with another hit. The woman countered with an elbow to the gut, which almost knocked the wind out of Lili; but she managed to step back just enough to avoid being debilitated long enough for the woman to stab a vital.

I should ask Sergei about body armor. Apparently I need it these days.

They threw small blows at one another again-some missing, but some hitting home; she thought that she'd be feeling this one for awhile. Lili decided to try to disarm the knife for good; she made a few open attempts at hitting to try to get her to stab...and she took the bait, thinking Lili not that clever. She caught her arm, bringing her hand up to the elbow like she was taught, dislocating it. She quickly kicked the knife far away as the woman yelled out, dropping her arm to the side.

Now, Lili thought.

She came in, one kick being dodged but another hitting her in the side of the head; it caused her to bite her lip and spit a fair amount of blood. Lili was surprised; she felt like she didn't hit her as hard as she could have, but she managed to hit her just right, it seemed. She came in again with her hands thrusting forward hard to hit her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. As she doubled over, Lili swung a hand up to her nose, possibly breaking it; more blood flew.

Her adrenaline running, she struck home with a few more punches, hand strikes, and kicks; she was a bit upset this woman wanted to kidnap and possibly kill her. Finally, she kicked her knee out hard, the crack that filled the air telling her she broke it rather badly; afterward she span around, hitting her on the side of the head with her own knee. More blood flew from her mouth as she fell to the ground, unconscious. Lili kicked her hard one more time to make sure she was out. Possibly out of frustration, as well; she wasn't exactly happy with some woman coming in to try to kill her.

She paused, breathing heavily. I can't kill her. I can't bring myself to do it. The knife is right over there...but...no. But she might come back. Though she's a failed assassin...

She knew Sergei was busy...she had to get in touch with Lars, whom was on standby. As she went to get her phone, she noticed three or for more knife wounds on her and twitched. A couple of them came close to some nastier parts...and she hadn't even felt them.

What just happened to me? She didn't like the amount of blood. It was nothing compared to when Sergei killed someone, but she had never beaten someone up this badly. Sure, she had fought many a scrappy street fight but most of those were never even to unconsciousness.

The man in the alley perhaps came close to this, when she thought about it.

She shook her head, knowing she had to stay cool, though her knife wounds started to hurt. These were not scratches; while most were not too deep, she knew one-on her chest, a bit too close to comfort to one of her lungs-may need extra closure; she hoped she would not need stitches. She wasn't even worried about how the scars would look at the moment. She knew she would have to call Lars and ask for his help in doing something with the assassin. Judging by the shape she was in she wouldn't be waking up soon, and even if she did, with a broken elbow and knee she'd not be moving fast. She had a fast thought to look for any phones or anything...none were on here, though she suspected she had to have something somewhere here.

Lars first. Then searching.

She sent a fast message, knowing that he likely would only send one back when he was there. She thought to tie the assassin's legs together anyway quickly, and then went to go wash her wounds off. The shirt was cut, naturally, and the blood had soaked in rather heavily, though she was not in any danger of actually losing a lot. It was bleeding more than she would have liked, though, for sure. She stood for a moment, breathing heavily.

Blood can cover a lot more, I know that.

She paced. The adrenaline was wearing off, and she was a bit nervous...and also, without the adrenaline, the blood and pain hit her. She felt dizzy for a moment, and almost nauseous; everything at once hitting her made her bite her lip and put her head down. She went quickly to the bathroom again to splash cold water on her face. Breathing calmly-thinking about how Sergei had been stabbed countless times during combat and knew he lived-she managed to control herself and settle down.

After a few more moments, she looked at herself in the mirror-and felt fairly proud and satisfied. This woman was likely much more experienced, but she beat her, and managed to be fine through the aftermath.

Try to throw something harder next time, her first thought was.

Okay...maybe not, said the more sensible voice.

She sat tight, wondering what was going on with Sergei in the suite above the restaurant. It helped her take the mind off of the pain.

–

The snap was quite audible.

Sergei tossed the dead man in front of him; he had gotten the drop on him, grappled with him for a moment, grabbed his head, and twisted it around. He had found the enemies after being in contact with Lars, who had somehow managed to scout the place from across the street.

He continued to search the room. Once he killed these last three or four, there would be no one left attached to the mole according to Lars; at that point he would have to probably come out of hiding. He was a bit angry at himself that he was so hard to uncover. He was there, but he was hiding incredibly well. They wanted to find him before he could position more Zaibatsu members in the company.

He knew he had surprised them.

He walked around the corner to the kitchen; a muffled, high pitched sound followed a sharp pain in his left shoulder.

Silenced pistol, he knew immediately, and he knew the armor-piercing round was settled into his arm. He did not want to move it too much...but he knew he could still win.

Mere hired hitmen would not be enough to stop him.

His scarred lip curled into a snarl as he went low; the pain was nothing to him. The pain, he felt, was good; he knew the nerves were not destroyed. He wouldn't use the arm unless he had to; he knew it wasn't broken, but there was a bullet in it and it was likely fragmenting somewhat. He did not want to disturb the area anymore than need be. He went low, coming up with a massive shoulder check to the man's stomach; he was too surprised to even take another shot. He did not realize that it didn't stop the huge man.

As he doubled over, a vicious haymaker hit the side of his head and he fell forward, crawling and trying to get up on the window sill. Sergei wound back, viciously striking him in the back of the head with a brutal downward kick with his heel; the crunch that followed told him that he smashed his face in against the sill as blood sprayed out and began to drip down the wall. Not checking to see if it killed him or not, he repeated with one more kick; this one had a significantly wetter sound to it and the blood poured down. The man slumped to the floor, certainly dead now if he wasn't before, blood now everywhere on the wall and floor, flowing from his head all over.

Sergei glared down at the corpse and moved on; he could hear the other two in the room and tried to make it over to the door in time; he made it, seeing two more men who turned to stare at the hulking, blood spattered figure now in front of them.

The man who did not seem to be even noticing the bullet in his shoulder, and who seemed to be tracking in a hefty amount of blood from the kitchen.

Blood that was flowing from the windowsill to the entryway. Huge head wounds caused immense bleeding, after all.

Sergei scowled at them and dashed forward. He was satisfied enough that he saw fear in their eyes.

–

Lars appeared through the back door of the building, locking it. Lili nodded to him as he blinked, checking her out.

"You're hurt," he said.

"I should be okay."

"This one is deep."

"Sergei is good at field medicine," she smirked.

He nodded. He figured she would prefer if he took care of her. "Did you clean them?"

"They hurt, but yes." She decided to set his mind at ease and at least let him examine them. He did so, quickly; he was satisfied that these would be fine for the time being, and they could properly take care of them back at her flat.

Lili then walked into the other room, which definitely looked as if there had been a fight. "She's in here. I...couldn't..."

Lars nodded. "You don't have to." His eyebrow went up. Impressive, he thought. He turned toward her, looking around. "It seemed intense."

She nodded. "I was surprised that I beat her. But...take care of it. Don't tell me what you do. I'd rather not know."

Lars nodded. "Sergei had messaged me that he finished off the last of them."

Of course he has. She nodded. "I'll go in the back to wait for him. He said he would come down through the fire escape." She turned to walk away, leaving Lars alone with the still-unconscious assassin.

Just take care of it.

A few moments passed, and a very bloody Sergei stepped in. Lili knew by looking at him there was no one left upstairs. Or, well, they were there, but they certainly weren't alive in any sense. She looked him up and down.

"You still get messy," she said. She noticed the gunshot. "You've been shot..."

Sergei shook his head. "I'm fine," he said, checking her wounds out. "I want to take care of these." He thought nothing of the bullet wound in his shoulder it seemed.

"Later. Yours is worse."

Sergei snorted. Lars eyed the wound but said nothing.

"Let's just go," Lili said. "Better to get back."

The two agreed. Sergei looked down at her a moment while Lars adjusted his coat to quickly stroke her cheek with one finger. He had washed his hands, though she could still see the remnants of blood under his fingernails, and his clothes were splattered badly with it.

Even around another person, now...even though he wasn't looking.

–

Sergei put on the last of the dressings onto Lili's wounds.

He had been concerned about the deeper one, but once they were cleaned properly, he thought it fine to dress them. Working on the field, one had to know things like this; and these were very minor compared to things they have had to deal with in the past. He was no field medic, but he knew enough to take care of things after a fight, even a nastier one.

Lili flexed her arms, very surprised at the job he did. His touch had been light, as usual when he was treating her with more sensitivity. He had used butterfly bandages to close up the deeper one; everyone determined that stitches would not be needed, as that one was not very long, either. She had simply sat back and watched him bandage her carefully, even through his own wounds.

"Your turn."

"Yes, the bullet needs to come out."

Lars frowned. "And the shrapnel. Yours needs quite a bit of cleaning."

Sergei shook his head. "We have more important things."

Lili folded her arms. "They can wait. Clean that." He had started to take his jacket off; she shuddered when she saw the spot.

It was bloody and bruised; she had never seen someone get shot before, but given how neither Sergei nor Lars looked shocked at it, she supposed it was normal. It had clearly missed any vitals, though she didn't like the look of some of the fragments. Lars went over to the military field kit and removed a long pair of tweezers and a probe. Sergei frowned.

"Is that necessary?"

Lars nodded. "Not letting that go." He turned toward Lili. "We ought to show you how to do this."

Lili twitched. "I can watch..."

Sergei sighed, realizing Lars meant well. He had a...thing about leaving a man injured these days. Sergei suspected he knew what it was from as well, but he said nothing.

Lars handed Sergei one more thing...a bottle of vodka. That made Lili giggle a little, even given the situation. Sergei smirked as he accepted it, opened it, and took a gulp.

"I know you probably didn't need this...but still," Lars said. He began to probe around the area. The light was good, and he seemed to find the bullet quickly; he removed the bloody object and put it on the table. Sergei did not seem to change expression, though he took another drink of the vodka. Lili blinked.

"That's it? It's small."

Sergei nodded. "It had fragmented somewhat."

Lili was surprised she was able to watch this; though she supposed watching Sergei brutally kill about two dozen men in the past year and a half somewhat hardened her to this. A little bloody wound was nothing compared to Sergei braining some guy on the ground.

Still...it was her lover there-she had no qualms about thinking these words at this point, though she tried not to do it often-and he would occasionally grunt in discomfort, though he didn't really change expression. After taking another swig of the bottle, he glared up at Lars, though not unkindly.

"You should have paid more attention when they taught you this."

Lars smirked. "Try not to get shot."

Sergei snorted.

Lili watched Lars continue, pulling out bits of the bullet. Sergei eyed it on the table. After some time, it seemed that there was nothing left. Sergei took one more drink, put the vodka on the table, and walked off to wash it out with the shower head. She shuddered, imagining how that could feel. Lars noticed her, looking down at the rather bloody work area.

"Sorry about your tablecloth."

"We have hundreds. It's not important." She poked with the probe that Lars had at the bits. "Should this be all of it?"

"Most likely. It hadn't happened long ago, and this looks about right for one of these. He'll be fine. He's been shot more than once, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had some shotgun pellets in him somewhere."

Lili shook her head. Sergei, I don't have to worry about you but you should be careful...

Lars lit a cigarette, cleaning up everything and repacking the kit. He planned on sterilizing it all later. Sergei eventually walked out from the bathroom, having dressed the wound himself. It looked like a fairly good field dressing. He moved his arm, pleased at how it felt. He looked at Lars again, taking one of his cigarettes that were on the table and lighting it.

"It wasn't bad after all." He sat down next to Lili again. Lars chuckled as he gathered everything up. He glanced over at the two; Sergei had started to examine Lili again. She smiled softly at him...realizing that he was seemingly paying attention to her with someone else in the room.

He knows that Lars knows. I don't think he would do this around anyone else.

She was correct; but now, he was comfortable. He looked over again, Lars getting on his coat.

"Leaving?" Lili asked.

"Need to do a few things tomorrow. We have him cornered, as said...at this point all he has left to do is come out and give up."

"Or be lured out," Lili smirked.

Sergei looked over at her out of the corner of his eye when she said that. He then looked over at the other man, saluting. He nodded once.

Lars chuckled again. "You're welcome." He turned to leave.

Lili stood; exceptionally achy and tired. She looked at Sergei wearily. "I just need to sleep. A long time."

Sergei nodded, standing. He came over to her from behind, sliding his arm around her. After a few moments in silence, he spoke.

"He was right that night. Lars was." He kissed her once on the mouth before heading off to the bedroom.

Lili blinked, confused. What did he mean by that?

It would be something that she wouldn't realize until much later.


	24. Chapter 24

Lili seemed to be a fast healer; she felt a little better a couple days later, though the wounds itched somewhat. This was normal, she knew-she had suffered injuries in tournaments and street fights.

She could only wonder what Sergei was going through with his bullet wound, though it was healing clean. It looked terrible, but at the same time she could tell there was no infection or complications with it. He kept it well-cared for. She thought she would have been scratching the hell out of it by now, but he, as always, acted like it wasn't even bothering him.

Lili had been giving a lot of thoughts about things the past days. She had practiced with the gun at the range again, and after the whole incident with the assassin-she won, but it could have gone very differently if there had been more of them, or she had been caught off-she simply wanted to be more prepared.

She finally considered carrying the gun.

She had thought about it. She remembered Sergei's words, and weighed them carefully; at the end of the day, if they send people who were armed after her, she suspected she would be able to pull the trigger if it came down to it. She figured that if she didn't have one, she could well be dead anyway.

She had brought it up to Sergei, who only nodded. He figured she would decide what was right.

He was likely on his way to the room; he spent extra time there these days. Somewhat for planning somewhat for making sure everything was secure...and of course mostly so he could spend more time with her, since he knew they would likely have to be leaving again soon, and this time he would be going back to Russia for awhile.

She took the holstered gun out, checking it to make sure it was safe. She put it on, checking herself in the mirror.

It doesn't look that bad. Plus it would be underneath my coat.

She went to go try on her coats as well; it stayed fairly well hidden. She felt somewhat self-conscious with the weapon; she wasn't sure why. She supposed she could get used to it.

Hearing the knock, she took it off and placed it back on the desk as Sergei walked in, nodding to her with the small smile that he would greet her with. She sat at the table, pointing at the large coffeepot that she had asked the maid to bring; they had done more and brought along food as well.

Sergei's eyes trailed over to the desk. He noticed the gun.

"You decided?"

She nodded. "Yes. I think...not all the time. But maybe some meetings. Some of the places where I have a bad feeling. Not during the day, or even most of the time. I think...I could use it if I had to."

"I trust you know what is best for yourself," Sergei said. He sat down, pouring himself a drink.

She smiled. "I hope so." She sat down as well. "How do you feel?"

He moved his arm around, smirking. "It's nothing. I've taken worse." He pointed at an old scar on his other shoulder. "This was from a much bigger gun."

She blinked. "I know you were shot from a smaller caliber when you were younger...did you get this other person?"

He raised his eyebrow, the smirk growing a little dark. She had her answer from that alone. She could imagine the surprise on the man's face when Sergei probably rushed him right down despite having his shoulder most likely broken. He didn't speak much of the other situation, though-she never pressed it. She continued on.

"I thought about what you said. Could I point it at someone and pull the trigger. And after the assassin...I think I could." She sipped some coffee, playing with her hair. "But...at least I know if I pulled it out, it would be in a situation where I would be dead anyway." She did not plan on waving it around to threaten people. She felt she was capable enough without that.

Sergei nodded, smiling softly at her. He touched under her chin. "If you want more help, let me know."

"I'll probably want to go to the range once per week. I'll have to...sneak it when I have to go back, though. I think I can."

"You should try to practice once in awhile, yes."

"I don't think I'll be carrying it back in Monaco. Ever," she chuckled. "It's getting unloaded, locked, and put way back in one of my private closets."

He chuckled. "It's not radioactive."

She laughed. She always loved when he managed humor. "I really don't need my father or Sebastian seeing it. They don't go into the places I lock up."

Sergei smiled again, imagining it. Having spent all that time at the manor, he had gotten to know the other members of the family, too. He had guarded her father on more than one occasion. He thought Mr. Rochefort was a good man who did care for his family, though he also felt that his hesitance to sometimes fight back was not doing him or his family any favors.

He figured he was hired again because of his demeanor-Mr. Rochefort couldn't stand to do anything dirty, so he ensured that he had someone who would do the work, ask no questions, and say nothing about it. He had been extraordinarily grateful toward the way he had protected Lili, as well. He would definitely be discussing more work with him, he knew.

He suspected if he knew about their other activities he may feel slightly different. Lili often thought about these things as well. She was surprised that they managed to hide it after all this time. Lili had occasionally been one to enjoy gossip, but she was amazingly light-lipped about this...even to her best friends.

Walls have ears, she learned. Lars was the only other person who knew...and he had figured it out on his own. Apparently only because Sergei thought to do certain actions around him, though...actions that he would never do around anyone else. They never discussed the situation, though, nor did they take any actions around him.

Lili looked down into her coffee cup; the two of them had seemingly been lost in their own thoughts. She guessed she had wanted to try to distract herself about the whole gun situation. She glanced over at it, and back to Sergei.

"Is your arm okay?" she asked, smiling.

He finished his coffee and smirked again, leaning in to kiss her lightly, as he would do. He stood after, walking over to the door.

"I'll get my things," he said.

She smiled.

Why not? It looks to be a slow day anyway.


	25. Chapter 25

Sergei nudged Lili, who had fallen asleep on the couch with her laptop at the side.

They were at a hotel; they thought it might be best to head there early in the day and stay the night, in case something happened back at her temporary home. Given the potential delicate nature of everything, it seemed like the best thing to do. She had naturally picked a huge suite. She had tried to get a little rest, since she knew they would be confronting Sullivan tonight at an office building that was closer to the outskirts of the city.

He probably picked that one because it was innocuous, and so that we were closer to the end where he could take my body and dispose of it somewhere.

He has no idea I'm bringing company, though.

The meeting was easy to set up; she simply let word pass down the grapevine about a possible deal with the Zaibatsu, which was totally fake. She knew Sullivan would reply, which he did.

She had enough of this stupid corporate intrigue to last her a lifetime. I really don't want this to be my life now.

The plan was fairly simple; Lars and Sergei would be leaving separately and showing up after, with her letting them know when she was inside. She would be taking a company car, and nothing would look amiss.

She was nervous, though. In her mind, she played out some of the worst-case-scenario things that could happen.

Her company car driver could be corrupt. She could get there and they could be waiting, armed before she even stepped in. She suspected neither of these things would happen, of course...but it still made her wish there was another plan. She knew the other two would be fairly nearby, though.

She had thought about all of these things as Sergei crouched down next to her, pushing back some of her hair. "We should go," he said.

She nodded. She leaned in to kiss him once lightly. He returned it...and then another one. He then touched her face before turning to leave. The two of them would be going their own way for now.

She got dressed, choosing easy to move in clothing that could pass as a sort of business casual. She had a feeling that she may have to fight something tonight, and didn't want to be caught in an unsuitable outfit.

Pulling on her jacket, she looked around at the hotel room, expecting to see it again.

Only victorious.

–

The ride was uneventful. The driver was simply that...just a driver.

Sergei and Lars had said there was nothing amiss; Lars suspected he would want her to actually go fully into the meeting room, as he probably had plans more along the lines of kidnapping. After some discussion, they decided to walk into the front, together, just in case.

They did so; it was dark, and the place looked fairly empty...but there were a few lights scattered about the upstairs. The company car was gone, and the surrounding area looked shockingly desolate. It was almost creepy, and would have been if she had been alone, she thought.

After they entered and separated; Lili was going to determine where the room was-the electronic locks on the front doors clicked.

Shit. I guess something was given away.

Sergei and Lars looked calm though.

Then, it suddenly occurred to her. She smirked over at them.

They had wanted this. They didn't want him to escape. It was rather brilliant. She looked over at them with a slight scowl, however.

"You could have filled me in," she said, folding her arms.

Sergei snorted a bit of laughter. Lars responded. "It was a last minute decision."

Lili rolled her eyes, wondering what sort of conversation led it's way up to that, and she regretted not being there to witness it. She suspected it may have been a little amusing.

She focused, though. She knew that it could get ugly in here, and soon.

The three stood together; they knew they had cut the elevators, but they had also locked the doors. They had no idea how many were in there, or even who was in there.

Lars looked at them both. "It's all or nothing now."

Sergei smirked. Lili blinked.

"You mean..."

He looked down at her, the smirk still on his face. "We fight our way through. He's here."

She nodded, listening to the footsteps come from all around.

Well, looks like tonight won't be boring...

Lars cracked his knuckles and his neck as he saw the first men coming in from the left side. Sergei backed up, noticing many shadows from the south door. His expression did not change.

Lili thought she might get away with maybe trying to track down Sullivan, but given there were a few more trying to sneak around, she decided she wanted to stay here and help, instead.

It didn't take long for all hell to break loose.

Lars, having the uncanny ability to dash in almost unnoticed before unleashing an assault, leapt up and came down on one's head with a downward angled kick; it was so strong that Lili could hear the snap of the man's neck from where she was standing.

Sergei maneuvered around to two others, grappling one, punching his face twice brutally before kneeing him in it two more times; he threw him to the ground so hard the blow likely killed him. The second had his knee crushed by a downward kick, Sergei then following with two more kicks to the head as he went to his good knee; the blows were so fierce that they cracked bone and sent him flying; the blood smear left behind on the wall told Lili he was dead, as well.

The enemies came in greater numbers now. Lili saw one getting close to her as she hit him in the chest with her palms, sweeping him asunder and kicking him in the chest; he stumbled back, hitting his head on the wall. He seemed to be out.

More came out. Lili preferred to knock any that came near her out; another had two upward hand strikes break his nose, before a roundhouse put him down for the count as he hit the floor. She wiped the blood from her hand-she disliked that, but after she saw Sergei bring another down to crush his skull against the wall with a brutal downward strike with his boot, she figured it was nothing.

Lars smashed one with several hits; two punches, a roundhouse kick, and then a running kick to the chin that also broke his neck by the sound.

She saw two men break and run; neither Sergei nor Lars paid them no mind. Lili decided not to, either; she figured after they saw what they just did, they weren't going to do anything for the Zaibatsu again, ever.

Lili did not even realize time going by. She was careful to stay in safe positions; she knew they may have guns. She had hers, but did not take it out. Neither did Lars or Sergei, just to be safe; they did not want to hit each other if things got hairy during the battle.

Lili took a kick to her side that knocked the wind out of her; she rolled over, getting to her knees. She was able to send a fairly strong punch into the attacker's crotch for his trouble though. He stumbled back, Lars grabbing his arm, spinning him and taking him down, only to crush his neck under his heel. He dropped the limp arm afterward, helping Lili to her feet. She managed to roll out of the way again to hit another in his throat with a knife hand; this was enough to send him staggering back choking. Before she could strike him again, another appeared; she laid into him with a flurry of punches and kicks, before an upward palm hit his jaw hard, bloodying his mouth and sending him back against the wall; the hit against the side rendered him unconscious.

She could accept getting helped up once. Given the situation she felt she wasn't doing badly at all.

Lili turned, the man whose throat she hit was seemingly gone; he may have decided he had enough. She saw Sergei first strike a man in the side of the head with his brutal haymaker; afterward he followed with the deadly powerful roundhouse that she knew. Between his brute strength and his steel capped boot, it shattered the opponent's temple and some of his face with it, it seemed. There were about six other corpses around Sergei; she had been so busy she hadn't realized who he had plowed through. As usual, he was incredibly bloody.

She worked her brain for a second to try to think. Three retreated. I think I knocked out three. Lars took out three or four? Sergei six or seven? How many are...

She had to quickly duck out of the way of a knife; using the disarm method she had gotten good at, she quickly dislocated his elbow, swinging him around and giving him a kick in the back first, and then the of the head which was enough to send him flying forehead-first into the ground. He was seemingly out between the two blows.

Sergei had smashed one's face under his boot; one of his quick, no-nonsense...but incredibly nasty ways of dispatching an opponent. She could see the red run down from the caved-in area. She twitched a bit. I will never get completely used to that. Sergei saw the man she knocked out, though-and she caught a look of that pride he would get. He never said anything-he wasn't one for patronizing compliments. He thought she deserved more than that. He totally trusted her by his side in any battles they had been in.

She was quite impressed with the massive overhead kick Lars would perform; he could usually aim it squarely onto an opponent's face with enormous force; she knew Lars held immense power, despite his more athletic build. One blow was usually enough to shatter bones and snap the neck...he could get incredibly nasty results, though Lars generally did not look as bad as Sergei after a battle.

She hoped it would end soon, though. She was sore and she had taken a hit to her lip that she thought would swell it soon-Sergei and Lars both had visible knife wounds, Lars' nose was bloodied, though not broken, and Sergei had some blood coming from his mouth. The blood of the opponents was a bit more prevalent; Sergei's area in particular looked absolutely terrifying.

But she wasn't sure how much longer she could go on for. This was the first time she ever had to fight so long and hard. Eventually even the other two-hardened soldiers-could take enough wounds to slow them enough that if they came in with heavy firepower things could get ugly. Things could get ugly quickly if they brought in heavier firepower now. She was starting to get a bit scared, truth be told; this angered her, as since she did not like being afraid.

Lili caught four or so more guards out of the corner of her eye. after several more more were taken down or out between the three; it seemed Sullivan-whom she recognized-was in the middle.

"You!" She yelled.

Sergei and Lars were closer; they went directly for the guards, who quickly moved to try to protect Sullivan. She decided to take this chance to try to keep him from getting away.

As she dashed to him-the guards throwing him back-Lars grabbed a guard by the neck, lightning coursing his body as he snapped his neck single-handedly; Sergei came around with a leaping overhead heel to the side of another's head as he finished him with a stomp to the back of his skull as soon as he hit the ground. The other two began to somewhat back off; Lili had no idea what they did to them, but she certainly heard the sounds. She was too busy sliding in to sweep down Sullivan, causing him to tumble and roll clumsily. Lili found her feet, Sullivan getting up slowly as Lars and Sergei came to stand behind her.

Sullivan was trapped. All thirty or so of his men were taken out-either dead, knocked out cold, or dispersed somewhere far away to what was happening. Lili walked forward, striking him with a palm upward on his face; bloodying his nose and sending him stumbling back. She kicked him once in the chest, causing him to fall over again.

He can't even fight, she thought. She took the gun out of its holster and trained it on him.

"You tried to kill me and my father. Ruin my family. You would have killed us all here tonight."

Sullivan didn't even look apologetic. "The Mishima Zaibatsu is huge. Bigger than your corporation. You'll bend eventually."

She flicked the safety off the gun. At that, he began to look worried for a moment. He composed himself. "Think of what your daddy would say if he found out you killed me."

Lili thought for a moment, flicking the safety back on and holstering it. "You're right." No, he is. I couldn't kill someone. Even if he would come after my family again. I killed no guard tonight. Sergei or Lars may have finished some, but I left them either unconscious or they ran. After a moment of silence, she folded her arms.

"I won't do it." She turned toward Sergei, standing next to her. He was exceedingly bloody. "I'm going now. Take care of him as you see fit."

She saw Sullivan's face grow wide-eyed the moment he realized what she just did as she turned to walk off. Lars snorted at the man, turning around to follow her. Sergei walked forward, his boots leaving bloodied prints on the floor behind him. She heard the man scramble backward and squawk out something unintelligible before she opened the now-unlocked door to walk out.

She missed any other sounds that followed, though she could imagine exactly what was going on.

Did I order his death? Yes, yes I did. I didn't tell him to do it exactly, but I knew he would. I know what's going on in there. I apparently wasn't even hard enough to stick around to at least watch what I ordered.

Does that make me a killer? Did I word it that way to make sure I didn't actually say the words? Does it make me one if I know what Sergei will do?

It's my family. I love my family. I can protect us, too.

As she walked down the stairs-very sore and desperate for a shower-she remembered the night when she kissed him in the alley, even as he was bloody after dealing out more death to her family's enemies.

The night that it was ensured that he would be hers to command, even if he said nothing.

–

Back at the hotel, Lili ended up getting the longest, hottest shower she could remember. Besides it being rather nice on her sore muscles-she had to wonder how the people in tournaments fought multiple times a day or how Sergei could do it all day-it helped clean all of the dirt, the bit of blood, and also the sort of dirty feeling she got when she thought about ordering the man's death.

She had since sat down with a large spiked coffee, dressed in some casual clothes, sitting one of the large chairs in the suite. Sergei too had showered up-he had a lot to clean off of him. If he normally looked like he butchered people, Lili had no idea how many men died by his hand tonight. It was enough to make her sometimes think what exactly she had in him, as he had the same expression that he always did.

She almost felt guilty double-guessing him, though; she knew exactly what he was to her.

Sergei sat at a table, smoking cigarettes. He was looking over a few things, possibly mission notes or something of the sort. He seemed completely calm and fully unaffected by everything that had gone on that night. Lili couldn't understand how he could be that distant. She stood to walk toward the window, everything finally starting to hit her.

All of the threats, the moving about, the fighting, the deaths. She enjoyed fighting, but not particularly for her life. She liked to carry a gun now to feel safer. They had finally dug through the layers of everything, but it still wore on her.

Finally, after months, a tear slid down her cheek; she wiped it away. She felt Sergei shift behind her; he stood to walk over.

How did he know? Did he hear me sniffle or something? She thought she was quiet, but apparently not.

He stood next to her, tilting her head up. She didn't understand how he could so cold at a time like this. She smacked his chest lightly a few times. He wore his tank top, so she could still see a few of his recent cuts, as well as the healing bullet wound he had taken. He simply blinked, looking down at her.

"Why are you so calm? You were shot. I was cut. You were cut. I just ordered you to kill a man. Everything," she continued, another tear falling. It took her months, but the stress finally boiled over. "How can you stay so calm? Don't you care?!" Another tear fell from her eye. She wasn't panicking, she wasn't even enraged, she was frustrated and stressed...in addition to being quite sad that the two would not have too long together at this point until he had to leave again.

Sergei simply looked down, wiping a tear off of her face with his thumb. He said nothing still; after he wiped them away he pulled her closer. He didn't really know what to say; he was surprised it took her this long to finally let it all out. Even then, she was not bawling. She was stronger than she knew, he thought.

She had stopped hitting his chest already; it was just out of frustration for a few moments. She rest her head against him for a few moments quietly, She felt his hand run down the back of her head before wiping away the rest of her tears.

She calmed after a few more moments. She suspected that she had to finally just get some of that out. She let out a sad chuckle.

"That was...sudden," she said, looking up at him. He looked down, a slightly sad expression in his eyes. He nodded, touching under her chin.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

"For what?"

"I wish...I could help more."

"You do more than you know, Sergei." She slid her hands to his sides. She looked down again. "I don't want you to go."

Sergei tilted her head up again, leaning in. He pressed his forehead to hers, finally kissing her deeply. She returned it, finally relaxing more. Much like that night where she kissed him in the alley, she sort of felt things starting to slide off of her-slowly, but it was working.

It broke as he ran his hand down her face. He didn't say anything, but she could tell by the look in his eyes what he was thinking.

Neither do I, they said.

He walked over to the bed to lie down; she lay next to him, her head on his chest. She didn't really need him to do anything else.

I never have to dirty my hands with him around. It's like I have all the power in the world. That's...scary. But...I'd never use him. Not like that. Tonight was different...he would have tried to kill me, I know.

Sergei was duty-bound to his motherland, she knew. But she also knew that he felt bound to her too...and for more than just duty. As she felt his hand run through her hair, she could tell It was much, much more.

He seemed like he wasn't going anywhere this night. She wished he wasn't going anywhere at all, but she long knew days like this would come. They did before, and they would again.

As she finally drifted off-the stressful night seemingly days past even though it was just a few hours before- she never saw him turn his head to look out the window, or how he closed his eyes and sighed sadly.

He looked back at her after a few moments, seeing how peaceful she looked now and smiled softly.

Sergei decided he would just enjoy the time left as much as he could.


	26. Chapter 26

The three sat around a table at a much more casual restaurant; almost like a diner. Lili decided that after dealing with suits upon suits and actual bonafide corporate intrigue for the past weeks she was about tired of the nicer places and decided, for once, to go someplace leaning on more laid back.

There were many coffee cups piled around, as well as an ashtray that had to be emptied once already between Sergei and Lars. Lili chuckled at this, eating more of the dessert. The cheesecake here was actually pretty damned amazing, it turned out. The food had been quite adequate as well for a more casual place. She would have to remember it when she came back.

They had recovered after the ordeal for the past week; any of the wounds they sustained felt better, and Lili had time to mill over what she had done...or actively directed Sergei to do. She did not feel guilty. She felt a bit weird, still...but she knew if she hadn't have given the order, she wouldn't have done it herself. She suspected, though, that Sergei would have done for him on his own. He was like that. He didn't get his nickname for no reason.

She also didn't want to think about how they were going back to Monaco in about two weeks. This kept her mind off of it, though.

They were in fairly pleasant spirits, Sergei even enjoying one of the desserts there. To her massive amusement, he had ordered a third piece of the sacher cake and was making his way through it. Even Lars was amused. Naturally, Sergei's expression didn't exactly change, and he seemed to have no idea what was even amusing about it, but that was one of the things Lili kind of loved about him.

"I'm glad this is over," Lili said, sipping her coffee.

Lars nodded, taking yet another drag of a cigarette. "If you need any more help, get in touch. I'm pretty sure he can handle about anything, though. He probably could have handled this."

Sergei smirked. "I wanted to take care of it faster. You seemed useful enough for that,"

Lars snorted. "Thanks." He sat back, a hand in his pocket. He looked fairly relaxed, wearing a button-down green military shirt, left untucked, along with looser black jeans and combat boots. Lars was a bit more stylish, she noticed, on his downtime, though at the same time a little more casual.

Not that she minded staring at Sergei when he'd wear one of his tight tank tops. In fact, she quite loved his style, even though she was much more of a fashion-minded person herself and it was made for function rather than form. She took another bite of her cheesecake, trying to distract herself. She hadn't actually been with him for several days, and she was starting to kind of feel it she realized, now that she had settled from the excitement. She looked back at Lars.

"I got you first class. Don't worry."

He laughed. "For a two hour flight?"

Lili chuckled. "Of course. Why would you ride in the back?"

Sergei smiled softly. That side of her always amused him.

Lars shrugged. "I guess you're right. Thank you."

Lili shook her head. "I should be thanking you, for everything. You helped us when we needed it."

"Again, he could have handled it."

Sergei waved the waiter over as he walked by, pointing at his plate and his coffee cup and nodding. The waiter blinked, realizing he wanted yet another piece. Lili laughed. Sergei shrugged, smirking at her softly out of the corner of his mouth.

Lars folded his arms. "Guess even the statue here has a weak spot."

Sergei glared at him a moment before taking the plate from the waiter who had returned quickly, nodding in approval. He set into his fourth piece. Lars shook his head and stood.

"I need to run. The flight's leaving."

Lili stood, walking forth to hug him. Lars looked surprised. "Careful there," he said, jokingly. Lili smiled, knowing the unsaid words that followed-I don't want someone to run my head through the wall here.

Sergei then stood to offer his hand out. He nodded, saluting with his free hand. Lars returned it as Sergei clapped him on the shoulder.

"Thank you," he said, sparing him a little smirk.

"I may ask the favor back one day."

Sergei nodded once. He sat back down to finish his apparent new favorite dish.

"The limo will take you," Lili said.

"I'll not want to go back to driving after this." He nodded once, turning to walk out.

Lili looked back at Sergei polishing off the fourth plate, putting it aside and looking over at the dessert carousel. He noticed two more pieces there. Lili blinked.

"You aren't thinking..."

He just shrugged, waving the waiter over again.

Sergei, even now, you never fail to surprise me about something.

–

They had eventually returned home, after winding down a bit longer at the restaurant.

Lili was sitting on the bed-wearing only the usual silk tank top she would put on when she got out of the shower-and reading through a few things. Her legs were tucked underneath of her off to the side, and she had turned the heat up a bit; it was nicely warm in there now.

Sergei looked up from his notes, seeing her there. He stared over at her a few moments before walking over himself. He looked her up and down, glad that she looked none worse for the wear after everything. It had been about a week since they ended it, and she had gone through most of her things that night. He suspected that perhaps she had other things on her mind, but she was quite calm, now. She was in fine spirits today as they sent Lars off.

And as always, she was very beautiful. Beautiful and almost naked. He knew he would have to leave soon-they would be going back within a couple of weeks or so-and he wasn't sure when he would be back. He suspected he would have a side job working for the family after this whole incident, which pleased him, though his duty was still first and foremost to the military.

Though he wished his duty was to something else...he didn't allow himself to think about that.

He lay next to her, nuzzling up to her side; he was very near her rear and leg. Lili shivered, smiling down at him as she put her book down and running a hand through his hair. Always thick and soft after he had washed it, she loved how it felt to run her fingers through it.

Which she suspected she would be doing in earnest fairly shortly, but she was in no hurry.

He looked up at her, smirking slightly as he rest his head there in silence. He traced his hand around her stomach, moving his head closer to kiss below her navel a few times before moving his head back. Lili sighed.

Surprisingly, Sergei spoke.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

She smiled. "Now? Perfectly fine. About everything...? I'm fine. I am."

He ran his hand over her leg and rear some more. "It's over," he said.

"Yes. Finally. I can start to maybe relax a little." She smirked down at him. "I see you're trying to help me with that."

He raised an eyebrow, giving her the smirk that she loved before kissing very low on her stomach again, enjoying the feel of her hand through his hair. He looked back up after kissing her mound softly a few times, her breaths growing heavier.

He did love teasing her sometimes.

Lili looked down to get a firmer grip on his hair, to try to perhaps coax him toward something. They had all night, but she didn't mind an early and intense bit of fun to start it off.

He looked up, moving forward to stroke her mound with this thumb; he gently began to push back, exposing her more. Her leg went around over on the other side of him. He kissed her thigh some more as he leaned forward to lick lightly at the area he exposed for a few moments, his hand rubbing above it.

Lili moaned; the feeling was already amazing, between his breaths on her thighs and exposed center, coupled with his tongue licking her in all the spots she liked. He leaned forward more, continuing his pleasure. He was planning on going at this for awhile tonight-he knew that soon it would be time to return back to Monaco, and then he would only be there for a couple of days as Mr. Rochefort set up anything else for the future, and to take care of other business. They would likely not get to see for some time. Sergei never knew how long that would be.

He gave her longer strokes of his tongue, flicking around her clit for a few moments as he positioned between her legs more fully as she leaned against the headboard, partially sitting up. She liked this-she could see him better. Her hands ran through his hair as she bit her lip at the feeling of his light nipping before he slid his tongue inside of her. Her moans grew louder, though as usual she tried to keep some discretion, as hard as it was.

He repositioned, stroking her stomach with his hand; he always loved the feel of it. He brought his hand down to stroke her low a few times as he sped up his tongue; he finally held her thighs and pushed close to bring her over the first time quickly. He could tell by her look and actions that she wanted it.

She pushed herself into him more, thrusting to meet his movements as his tongue flicked against her clit faster; her moans grew closer together, followed by a gasp as she came. She could hear his own low moans as he drank her in.

He stayed between her legs some moments before moving back to rest his head against her thigh; once again she could feel the wetness on his face and laughed softly. She liked how relaxed he looked afterward; it was sort of nice, in a way. It showed that he was perfectly content to pleasure her; which he was. She looked down, smiling and catching her breath.

"Stay here tonight," she said.

He nodded, kissing her thigh again lightly several times. "I will."

She was surprised he did more than nod for once. She ran her hands down through his hair as he stroked her stomach absently with his hand, running it down low again. He leaned forward again to kiss lightly at her mound, pushing her leg out of the way again to begin teasing her slowly. She let out a shaking gasp-tonight was one of those nights where she wasn't sure what he was doing, but it felt beyond good.

He put his hands under her rear, lifting her up slightly to lick at her again slowly; still sensitive from the first time she cried out quietly. He continued to lightly tease her until he felt her ready enough to press back closer, swirling his tongue all around her, speeding up. He wanted nothing more than to hear her moans of pleasure right now; he was never the type to be...wanting, so to speak...before, anyway. But he did not relish leaving her. He wanted to indulge in her as much as he could; for him, it was more than just pleasure, it was a bonding when they would do everything that they did. It was something that allowed him to show her how he felt, even if he could not express it in a typical way.

He continued on, teasing her just enough to prolong it; she was being driven mad, but enjoying every moment. His low moans always turned her on, and the feel of his tongue doing everything she liked as she held onto his head was pure pleasure. She arched her back, knowing soon she would come again, and that it would be very heavy this time. She felt his breathing get heavier, and could hear the sounds of his actions even more as he sped up; he sucked her clit faster, wanting to drive her over the edge.

With a shaking gasp she came again; she was loud, but she didn't care. He rode out her orgasm, licking the entire time. He stopped when he felt her calm, the firm muscles in her stomach no longer contracting in pleasure.

He lifted his head, licking his lips several times. He moved up to lay his head on her stomach; she giggled at the feel of his breath and the fact her stomach now felt slightly wet along with her thighs, but then again, so did the sheets beneath her.

She stroked his hair in silence as she relaxed. She just had two orgasms, and they both felt amazing. Not to mention she was with the person she cared about nearly more than anything; she tried not to think of this aspect too hard. Not with him having to leave for an undetermined amount of time in a couple of weeks.

Sergei was having similar thoughts as he lay on her. He started to move, but Lili gestured for him to stay. He looked up, smirking. He shifted; his previous work had, as usual, left him aroused beyond anything. He let himself loose from his trousers to make himself more comfortable. Lili saw this and smiled. She sat up a bit, clearly meaning to go have some fun with him.

She leaned in to kiss him, his huge hands finding her shoulders and running down them. Her hand reached down to his member, which he had already let loose from his trousers. He was incredibly hard, and she knew it wouldn't take her long to get him off, either. Tonight, though, she would wait until he recovered, and then go at it even more. She was much more awake now, even after two orgasms.

She stroked him slowly, wrapping her hand around it just firmly enough to get him to moan as he started to bite at her lip. She liked when he started to get just a little rough, as usual. They continued to kiss, her hand tightening around him to stroke, her fingers sometimes dancing over the tip, teasing him even more. He smirked at her after another kiss broke.

She slid down, kissing low on his stomach. Her hands traced his torso. He was always so pale, though he always seemed to be in exceptional health. His complexion would have led some to believe he may have been sickly, if they hadn't seen his powerful build. She tugged his trousers down some so she could run her hand over his massive legs.

Once again she found he had the nicest set of legs she had ever seen on a man. Before Sergei, Lili tended to have a 'type' that leaned more toward athletic muscle, but Sergei somehow got her much preferring a large man.

She kissed low on his stomach, her hand running around the inside of his leg and thigh as he sat against the wall, one of his hands gently stroking her hair. She slid a hand around his member again to stroke it more and more firmly, occasionally leaning over to lick around the head, listening to his moan become that low, almost-growl.

She smiled and moaned a bit herself as she took his length in her mouth finally, taking her time at first, sucking slowly and taking him deep. She ran her tongue around him several times as her free hand continued to massage his leg. He settled back, one knee up with a hand resting on it, the other gently stroking the back of her head. He leaned his own head against the wall, breathing much heavier now. He occasionally thrust his hips forward, her mouth doing all of the things he loved. He bit his lip a few times when she was particularly quick with her tongue.

He always loved her treatment of him. He didn't mind coming now-he would recuperate quickly enough afterward, he figured, and it would give him an excuse to go down on her some more. Not like he needed an excuse.

Lili continued, sucking faster. Her slim fingers teased him underneath; after teasing him a little some weeks back, she would do this every so often. She was always amused at the sudden, slightly louder grunts that would come out of him when she did. She didn't do it often or for long, but just enough to get him shifting a little or his hand running through her hair faster.

He closed his eyes, feeling himself ready to come after a few more moments of her pleasure; she sucked at him harder now, taking him as deep as she could. She did not stop until she felt him thrust his hips forward and come; as always she swallowed everything, her hand massaging his thigh firmly as she continued until he was finished, and then a little longer still.

She teased his head a few more moments with his tongue before she let him go, resting her head on his stomach, still caressing one leg. His hand continued to stroke her hair as he caught his breath, looking down at her with a tiny smile.

"Take your time," Lili said.

He smirked...a bit evilly, raising an eyebrow as he pushed her against the wall again, nuzzling down toward her thigh. She laughed.

I meant recovering, but okay. She wasn't complaining at all. She gasped when she felt the familiar and wonderful strokes of his tongue teasing her lightly as she tried to take a position. She slid closer to the edge of the bed, Sergei moving off to crouch next to her, rubbing her stomach for a moment before settling back to his spot. He pushed his mouth close to her as he began to lick, moving his head rhythmically against her. He was in deep, after she had pleasured him he wanted more, and he wanted to hear her moans yet again.

This would also get him hard again fairly quickly, he knew. The feel of her, along with her taste and scent-were more arousing to him than about anything.

Lili threw her head back, wrapping both legs around him. She grasped his head with both hands, as well; he was getting so intense she wanted to have him as close as she could toward her. She thrust her hips toward him, meeting his rhythm, all of the previous sensitivity causing her to feel even more pleasure than the first time.

She wasn't even paying too much attention to how loud she was being; she literally did not care at this point. She caught a glance at him; he quickly met her gaze before he closed his eyes to send her over again; all he had to do was suck at her clit somewhat roughly, rolling his tongue over it and she cried out in her hardest orgasm yet tonight.

Sergei kept licking her until she was finished as he always would; he didn't leave right away. He drank her in, stroking her side with one hand as he held the outside of her leg with the other as he stayed pressed against her. He traced the toned muscle of her leg with his hand, listening to her pleasured breathing. He felt her hands brush back his hair.

He pulled back, kissing her mound and her thighs before resting his head on her, looking up. His mouth and chin were glistening wet at this point. She chuckled weakly; she came very hard this time and was still a bit out of it.

They were silent; he lay there with his head on her thigh, his other hand tracing over her smooth skin. He was growing hard as the time went on; he had spent a little extra time there, and now they both just seemed to want to enjoy some intimate and silent moments together. She was soaked to be sure; the bed cover would certainly need to be changed tonight.

Some more moments passed, and he started to move; she removed her hands from his hair as he paused to give her center one last kiss before moving by the wall to prepare himself. He licked his lips several times.

She moved over, almost jumping up on him as she somehow found a new energy to thrust down on him again and again; she nipped at his good shoulder as to not disturb any injuries. Any sore parts Lili had were long forgotten. She didn't know how many more times they would get to do this when they returned, so she wanted to enjoy each moment she could.

He thrust as well, both of her legs wrapped around him, squeezing every so often. His low moans grew a bit stronger over time as he went down to nip at the sensitive skin of her neck, in between dragging his tongue over the smooth skin. He had taken his time this entire night-he sort of didn't want it to end, but he knew it would have to eventually.

He thrust harder and faster yet; he wanted to come again. She had brought him over once, and he could tell he was almost there. With the final deep and low growl like sound he would make-that she loved-he bit down onto her shoulder and came, thrusting until he was finished. He walked over to the bed, sitting down on it with her still on his lap. She leaned back to look at him; she didn't care how sweaty or disheveled they were, but she was happy. Even after everything.

He lay back as she lay next to him. She wanted to enjoy some time just there naked with him before they went to shower. She sort of liked being with him during this perhaps slightly vulnerable moment; Lili was quite the perfectionist about her looks, as anyone knew, but she did not care at the moment at all.

Sergei rolled over, his fingers tracing under her chin. He said nothing. He rarely said anything after these times. Nor did he have to. He moved closer to her, resting his head down on her shoulder as they lie there. Neither wanted the moment to end.

They still had time, though.

They found it was better to think about the time they had, rather than the time they wouldn't.


	27. Chapter 27

Lili went about the room, slowly packing more of her things. She would be leaving back to Monaco in three days, and they were due to leave early. Sergei would becoming along for a night; her father clearly wanted to thank him in person for everything. She was quite pleased that he said that he would go to him first for any sorts of work; given how the military was very pleased with the amount of money he was funneling him-Lili tried not to think about this too much-he would likely end up back every so often.

She would have a busy holiday; heading back for all of the company Christmas parties, family Christmas parties, friends' Christmas parties and everything of that nature before going back to classes in January. She had no idea what things would bring then. She would be going back from an apparent expert at solving corporate intrigue to the socialite heiress of Rochefort Enterprises.

While she would be perfectly happy never seeing some of the stuff she had to put up with again, she admitted that life may be a bit boring for her these days. Boring, and deprived of something very special to her.

Or someone.

Sergei would be well back in his duties by then, and she wasn't sure when she would be seeing him. She suspected it wouldn't be too long, given the job he did, but she always hated these goodbyes since the past times it took some months. She thought it would likely be several weeks to months again. It was difficult for her, and she knew how difficult it was for him as well, though he hid it well and pushed it down, as he did.

He was busy packing things as well, though he had much less. Being a military man, he could bring what he needed in a couple of large packs. Lili didn't much care; she just brought whatever she needed, as she never had to carry any of it anyway.

She was trying to keep her mind occupied. She had done this whole thing before. They had to separate, and they did. It shouldn't have been any different than the last two times, but it was. They had been together so much longer this time, for one. Two, Sergei had helped the family get rid of someone who could have been a great danger if left unchecked. Maybe not next week or even next month, but down the line.

She still felt a bit strange still about ordering Sergei to kill him. She did not do it-she just wounded him, and even then, nothing to really speak of. But she gave Sergei the order, and he carried it out. She didn't know what happened, but she could piece it together. She had seen Sergei kill many, many times now. Her hands were still clean, and she liked them to remain that way...but was it still clean if you order someone else to press the button? It was something else that would enter her mind, but she tried to chase out. She still thought about it, even now-though she thought about it less.

They had grown so close over the past months-even more than they had before-and she did not want to leave. But duty called, for both of them. They both knew what they had, and what it had to be like. She had a hard time this past two weeks, now that it felt...so over, she knew she would have to say goodbye, and she hated that fact. She cried more than once, mostly angrily. She had snapped at Sergei once or twice, though she didn't mean anything by it. He knew this, and would only touch her face. Sometimes that frustrated her more, since he could stay so...neutral on everything, but she did not know what he was feeling on the inside.

On the inside, he was cursing the situation. He had considered once or twice-for only a few moments-breaking off from everything and going to live somewhere with her; anyone trying to tell him differently would be in serious trouble.

But he knew that was not who he was. And he knew that she understood that. She not only understood, that was one of the things that made her fall for him in the first place.

After a bit of time, she heard the soft knock, followed by the rattling key. She turned, these days knowing what his presence felt like from behind. She leaned back when she felt his hands wrap over her shoulders and his head slide next to hers as he leaned over her. After kissing her neck once, he stood back, smiling down.

"Three days. Well, I'll have one night at the manor. Luckily I won't have to leave until later on that evening."

"Don't talk about your leaving." She sighed. She knew it was better to face it than hide from it.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Lili shook her head. "No need to be." She got a wicked smirk. "Well, we'll have one more night to do something we shouldn't at the manor at least."

He smirked back, raising his eyebrow. "I will be back though. There is a deal. I will need to be in Russia for awhile, and I'm not sure when I'll be back...but I will."

"So it's not if, it's when."

"Barring a worst cas..."

Lili interrupted him. "I know you. That won't happen." This, she would be stubborn on.

He nodded, though there was the ghost of a smile on his lips. He went over to the balcony doors, looking at the cold sunset. He took out a cigarette, sliding it in his mouth as he took off his long sleeved shirt; his usual dark gray tank top was underneath of it. He lit the cigarette, standing there with his arm against the glass as he looked out. Lili sat on the edge of the bed and watched him the entire time.

He simply looked out over Berlin, having actually enjoyed his time here all told-especially being with Lili, and being able to finally destroy the man who had been causing them trouble. He suspected that there would be more...but so long as he could, he would help with them, too.

He quietly finished his cigarette before walking over to the bed to sit next to her. He absently kicked at one of the suitcases on the floor with his combat boot as he stretched his arms out. He looked over to her, smirking.

She smiled back...she knew that look. He was asking, in his usual silent manner, if maybe they ought to not waste these few days. She touched his face.

"It won't take me long to pack," she said, laying back.

He leaned over her to kiss her, his hand tracing down her.

 _On second thought, I'll just get the servants to help me pack._

 _Tomorrow._

 _I have more important things at the moment._


	28. Chapter 28

Soldiers Fenris30

* * *

Summary:

* * *

Sergei Dragunov is sent on a quiet mission; naturally, things spiral toward the violent side. In a rare moment of need, he meets a man who later ends up becoming one of his best friends; not an easy feat for a man like Sergei.

Part of the Reticent Watcher series; this is a prequel to the first arc.

* * *

Notes:

* * *

For a timeline reference, this takes place roughly nine months before the start of 'Reticent Watcher.' This is a background story, part of Reticent Watcher, and details how Lars and Sergei met; it also goes a little more into Sergei's background(which was started in Scars of Silence, and also detailed a bit in other stories, too. I'm probably never going to feed all of it-I think he stands to keep some mystery-but I like giving odds and ends to him.)

Note that this story IS more heavily Sergei-centric than Lars-centric, since the fic series is based on Sergei and Lili; Lars simply makes appearances in it(and will continue to, don't worry, Lars fans-he's friends with the both of them now.) I think I might detail Lili's background a bit more in other stories, too; hers may not be as checkered, but I think it would be fun looking at some of her things before now.

Graphic violence is in this story, as is a bit of 'medical gore' for those squeamish about medical procedures.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

* * *

Sergei sat in his jeep, which was parked about a mile from the place he needed to be.

It was the end of the summer, and the heat was stifling outside; he had the air conditioning on in the jeep as he sat. He did not particularly like the heat, but nor did he really mind it. He could deal with anything. Heat was nothing compared to a raging thunderstorm that seemingly lasted days, lightning crashing everywhere-or a blizzard and numbing cold so bad that one could get frostbite from simply being exposed in it for a short time.

He simply sat, his immense leg propped up the best he could on the partition between seats with some music playing softly; Sergei did enjoy music. He had fairly broad tastes, though took mostly toward an odd pairing of either classical or industrial music, the latter which he happened to be playing now. He had a little-known hobby-known only to some of his longest-known comrades-of singing, having been somewhat trained in classical singing when he was younger. The adults at the orphanage where he lived tried to foster creativity as a manner of giving the kids some focus somewhere. Music was one of his non-violent escapes during his rough and unrefined teen years. The harsh industrial music had appealed to his aggressive, militaristic side while the classical helped soothe him somewhat, appealing to that calm, stoic side of him which one usually saw when he was not fighting...and even sometimes when he was.

Other men he knew in the military enjoyed going out often, or they had significant others; he had no interest in 'nights out', or in romance. Even his one semi-attempt at it as a teenager, he did not feel anything. He had his interests-besides music, weapons collecting, and fighting, he enjoyed books very much.

He lit a cigarette, cracking the window. His duty tonight was a fairly simple one. There was a small office building close to the city's outskirts that was public-a sort of city-hall building. The Zaibatsu did use this as a sort of front for something. He was to walk in-they would be likely a bit haphazard about their security due to the recent confusion-examine a few of the rooms, and walk out discreetly with some things. He wondered why the military did not just command him to do a smash-and-grab, but he did not question his orders.

He was dressed and armed lightly. He did have a concealed pistol-his GSh-18-on his person, though otherwise he simply had on camouflage trousers, his heavy, steel-reinforced combat boots and a tank top due to the heat. He looked military, but also fairly off-duty at the moment. He should not run into any trouble. If he did, he could crush it rather easily even without a weapon.

Sergei Dragunov got his nickname for a reason, and that reason was his enormous kill count-most of which was performed bare-handed, and sometimes even in a single blow. Most enemies would break and run after seeing one of their own fall over, their skull left fractured and bleeding by a single, well-placed roundhouse kick.

He exhaled, checking his watch. It was late evening. The place was open until eight o' clock, to his knowledge; he was to go in close to that to ensure a fairly easy time. With few people around and any small security there likely not concerned with anything, it should keep it quiet. Sergei's presence was usually enough to intimidate people into not asking any questions; his deathly pale frame was built heavily, he towered over most men by a full head and was covered in scars. His silence was equally unnerving, as were his light eyes that looked almost unnatural.

He turned the jeep off before opening the door and hopping out; he finished the cigarette, absently grinding it out under his heel. He stretched out, deciding despite the stagnant and heavy evening air he would walk around the block before heading inside. He would have all night to soak up an air conditioned room with some vodka afterward.

Or so he thought.

–

Hmph. Figures. Sergei laughed bitterly to himself, wiping some of the blood from his face; blood that had spattered out when he smashed a man's nose in with his fist before kicking him to the ground, the steel toe of his boot shattering his jaw as he was on his knees.

He now had the man on his back in front of him, his enormous boot-heel on his neck. He stepped down until he felt the man's neck crush; the only thing he could do before he died was spit out blood and teeth. His eyes had a terror in them that Sergei was used to seeing when he would stare at someone before he killed them.

The acrid smoke stung Sergei's nose and eyes as he breathed it in; he wished he had his gas mask, but alas, he did not. The pain did not bother him though-nor did the pain of the four knife wounds. He had tied them off the best he could; they did not cut any arteries, and he would be fine. He had taken worse, though he had to be careful about their heavier weaponry, as he did not have armor on given the situation. Rivulets of sweat dripped down the side of his face, mixing with the blood. It looked, smelled, and practically felt like hell in this place...or so a lesser man may have thought.

What was supposed to be that rather routine and quiet information grab in a facility turned into an ambush and bloodbath...though most of it was not Sergei's.

The Mishima Zaibatsu he knew were in a bit of chaos at the moment, yet they were still together and running; they were battling the G-Corporation soldiers, and despite the Russian military having been working occasionally with some branches of the G-Corp, he had gotten word that the soldiers were killing any outsiders on sight. The military was not friendly-nor exactly enemies-with G-Corp, they simply, at times, had deals with them from time to time. Apparently whoever had done the recon for this job did not catch the fact they might have been 'meeting up' here this night. Sergei thought he may have to have a word with this man after all of this.

He was out of ammunition for his handgun-he never brought more than a clip when he was on day to day work because he only used it if necessary-and figured this time he may have wanted more, but there was no use in cursing about it. The fact the blood on his body-particularly on his fists, arms, and boots-was not his own and made up a majority of the blood on his body-showed that he did not particularly need a gun.

Still-in an ambush, especially with more heavily armed soldiers-it may have been nice to have.

He grit his teeth and pressed on; Sergei had already killed at least twenty of their number; a few with bullets, most with his own bare hands, and a mix; remembering the final bullet used to shoot out one's kneecap before he smashed his face in against the wall. He was feeling particularly vindictive at this point.

He had his duty, and he would fulfill it. His superior had asked him to take care of some files in this compound, and did just that; when he got out of this hellhole-it was not a matter of if, as Sergei would not accept defeat-he would find out what went wrong. If he had made a mistake, he would make sure that he would fix it, and if it was a leak, he would find the source and silence it.

Brutally.

Turning the corner, there were three more men. Not bothering with any sort of posturing, he charged; swinging his huge fist down in a haymaker to crack the first man in the temple; he sank to his knees as Sergei grappled with him a moment, easily overpowering him before grasping his head and twisting violently; the snap was audible. He ran another's head into the wall with his hand; once, twice, and then a third time. He pulled him back, his face was a mask of blood. He kneed him twice, finally kicking him in the temple and crushing it in.

He hit the ground as the small-caliber bullet tore into his bare shoulder. He got to his knees, a snarl on his scarred lip; he bit back the pain-he had been shot more than once before-and propelled himself forward with his powerful legs. He hit the man with his good arm, tackling him down. He smashed him in the face twice with his left fist, not wanting to disturb his right arm; he then stood, stomping down on his face with his huge boot, a wet crunch echoing through the room and blood spraying out. Given the man just shot him, Sergei growled and stomped again...and again. The man's head was reduced to a misshapen, gory horror; blood splattered all the way up into Sergei's face.

In his rage-which would hit him from time to time in combat-he did not see the fourth man come up behind him...also with a handgun, but one of a much higher caliber. He also had a clean shot, though after seeing the mess that Sergei just made of the man in front of him, he was a bit shaky.

When it cocked, Sergei turned; but before the man could pull the trigger a figure appeared behind him. The enemy's head was grabbed from above and ripped backward so hard that the back of his head actually touched his back; Sergei thought absently that whoever this was, they had amazing strength. The snap was very loud, Sergei guessing that he was practically decapitated. A bit more and he figured the man's head would have been torn from his body.

The broken corpse-blood pouring from his nose and mouth-was dropped to the ground. His shadowed killer stepped into the room, unceremoniously right onto the corpse as he walked in, seemingly none too interested in respecting the dead.

The man was around six feet tall-about six inches shorter than Sergei. He was wearing the tattered armor of the Tekken Force-bloodied and ruined from combat, though Sergei suspected most of the blood was not his, either. There was not much left of it; the man was practically shirtless. He lacked Sergei's bulk, but regardless, he knew this man was an extremely powerful fighter. The man had his own wounds-scattered around his body, with blood running from the corner of his mouth. His eyes looked menacing at this moment, as if he had seen a lot; far too much, to be sure. His medium-length brown hair was wild, though through all of this he carried himself like a soldier.

Sergei looked him up and down, eyeing the outfit and the corpses on the floor. The man's eyes trailed from him to the corpses as well...particularly the one with the smashed-in skull at his feet, blood flowing from the remaining mess at an alarming rate. They were silent for a few moments. The strange man finally spoke up.

"Your camouflage," he started. "Russian military?"

Sergei nodded, wiping a bit of the blood from his face with hand. He looked at his uniform. "Should I be killing you?"

The man snorted, though Sergei could see the faintest ghost of a smirk playing at the corner of his lip, almost as if he had not smiled in awhile. "They are as much my enemy as yours."

Sergei looked down at the dead man who could have killed him. He was careless, he knew. He should have checked for him. He could not make mistakes like this. "Thank you," he said. Sergei may not have liked many people at all in his lifetime, but he knew how to be polite to someone who helped him.

The man nodded. "Lars," he said, saluting. Sergei saluted back.

"Sergei," he replied.

"Can you fight?"

Sergei nodded. "I only need one arm."

"How many are left?"

"None," Sergei replied.

Lars blinked. "You killed them all?"

Sergei smirked evilly. He cracked his knuckles, kicking the corpse with the destroyed head aside. Blood practically covered the floor from one end to the other between the bodies. Lars wondered just what sort of man he was.

"They just don't know it yet."

The other man snorted laughter as Sergei turned to kick aside the brutalized corpses, going toward the computers. He snatched up a few of the disks-they ran fairly old-fashioned in places like these, they knew, though on the bright side for them someone had to break directly in. He pocketed them, turning around and nodding.

He had no idea, but Lars quickly decided that he sort of liked this huge and silent man. He knew how to take care of business, that was for sure. He felt a touch on his shoulder.

"Does that bother you too much?," Lars nodded toward the wound. He knew how much gunshots could hurt.

Sergei only shook his head, pressing ahead. There were a few more left that he 'owed' at the moment, and he could tell by the look on the other man's face that he was quite looking forward to this, as well. He did not know this man, but he knew he was military, or was at one point. They seemed to have an early mutual respect.

There weren't many men left. Sergei figured Lars had taken care of the rest of them. He seemed to have a tense anger about him, though Sergei was not one to press matters like this. He was a battle comrade right now, and he doubted they would even run into each other again after they separated. They had foes to battle through though, so they focused.

After some time, they finally reached the basement level, even bloodier than they were before they left the room. It was not as hot here; despite the air being off in the place-probably an emergency measure, they didn't know-being underground kept it cooler. Sergei guessed the last few were hiding out here, possibly having holed up after hearing about what happened to the rest of them. Sergei was surprised; he usually preferred fighting alone, though he fought very well with this man. Lars felt the same, unbeknownst to him.

Kicking the door in, Sergei grabbed the first guard by the head with his good hand, smashing it twice into the wall; the man fell to his knees as blood sprayed from his smashed nose. Even more blood-and things much worse than blood-sprayed everywhere as he brutally smashed his head against the concrete wall with his heel twice.

His partner seemed too horrified to even move; Lars quickly took care of him with a series of hits; punches, an uppercut to his jaw which clearly shattered it, and a jumping kick under the chin which snapped his neck, more blood from his already ruined face spraying.

It would have been terrifying to watch if someone who had never seen a man die had been there.

There was one more man; a man whom Lars looked upon with an expression which may have been almost hate, if Sergei had to judge. He knew something might have been personal here; he did not know what. He stepped back, nodding to Lars as he walked out of the room. The stranger who helped him was clearly an incredible fighter, and Sergei did not think he would have any trouble dealing with the man on his own.

The sounds that came from the room as he walked toward the stairs told him he was correct in his assessment. He simply left to go to the front of the compound, sitting by the wall, pulling a canteen out. He always carried one with him when it was this hot, as he never knew how long he would be on a job. He drank some from it, starting to examine his wounds. In hindsight, he probably should have left someone alive to question, but it was too late for that now. While he had no actual orders either way, he knew his superiors may have liked him to question someone. Sergei was not a perfect man and leaving alive people to question-after he was in the full-bore haze of combat-was one of this problems, and had been for a decade now. He was not some sort of uncontrolled maniac, but he had little patience for men trying to kill him and this tended to show. He had to be talked with a few times about this.

He was easily the best soldier they had in terms of sheer combat potential, and he always obeyed his orders-if he was told to take an enemy alive, he did-but generally speaking if one did not tell him to spare an enemy, he left none alive. In his mind, a living enemy was an enemy that can regroup and cause even more trouble.

In a short while, Lars stepped out, a little bloodier than he was when Sergei left him, though still not in Sergei's condition. Sergei stood, moving his wounded arm. It was not broken, though it hurt. He was able to resist the pain, even if he didn't particularly like getting shot.

Lars spoke up. "I know a place we can go." Lars did not fully trust him yet-but they had mutual enemies and this man battled beside him the entire way down. He had a brute strength about him that was incredible; it seemed downright inhuman. Lars was no stranger to that-his...abilities granted him more power than an ordinary person, after all, but to meet another-with seemingly no visible powers-with that sort of strength was odd.

Sergei only nodded. While he did not fully trust him either yet-it took a very, very long time for him to develop that-he trusted him enough to follow him.

–

The place Lars led them to was a rather run-down looking apartment; a sort of safehouse. Sergei got the feeling he had been on the run for a short while at least; he wondered why he still wore the almost-destroyed and tattered armor, but he figured he might have his reasons.

The flat was bare bones; it had a bed, table, a small kitchen, and various other bits scattered about. It did have a bathroom, where Sergei went to go check himself out in the mirror. He removed the bloodied tank top, checking his wounds out.

Most of them were not bad; some were deeper than he would have liked, but he had taken worse. The bullet, however, would have to come out...and he could not reach it very well. He turned on the water and grabbed a towel, giving Lars a questioning look as he held it up. He nodded.

Sergei turned back, washing everything clean and drying it off; blood-both his and everyone else's-appearing in the sink, on the floor, and on the counter. He heard the water running in the other room and guessed Lars was washing up as well, and he sort of hoped they could clean it up enough that he wouldn't have to call in a favor. Given they were somewhere in Japan, it could take awhile for any of his people to get there. Luckily not too much got tracked in, though he would have to scrub the hell out of his boots before he left. There would be nothing to do with the dark gray tank top, most likely; the blood soaked it far too much. A man walking around shirtless in this heat, at least, would not seem too weird, though it was late by now.

He walked back into the other room after cleaning up as best he could; he noticed Lars putting a bottle of whiskey on the table. Sergei snorted a bit of laughter. Lars looked over at him as he took out various tools; obvious stuff from a first aid kit, including tweezers, a probe, gauze, rubbing alcohol and a small knife. He handed Sergei the whiskey.

"You might want this."

"Will I have to kill you for trying to cut my throat?" Sergei asked, taking the bottle. He realized Lars was setting up to extract the bullet; it was clear he was somewhat trained in field medicine, much like him self. The better soldiers took it upon themselves to learn some.

Lars chuckled again. "We have the same enemy."

Sergei nodded, drinking some. It wasn't bad stuff to be kept in a hideout.

He trusted Lars a fair amount for more than one reason. They did have the same enemy, even though that in and of itself wasn't enough to trust someone. If he had truly wanted him dead, he could have let the man shoot him with a heavy-caliber handgun at close range; as staggeringly tough as Sergei was, he likely could not have survived that if it had hit a vital.

Sergei guessed that he was almost harboring some guilt from the way he was acting right now. He seemed like he was in an awful hurry to help a stranger, and he also seemed a little distracted, despite his own wounds. Sergei, being a rather private man, did not press the matter.

He lit a cigarette as Lars began to probe around for the slug; it did not go deep, and sure enough-in just a few moments-he had it with minimal cutting. He dropped the bloody piece of metal on the table, making sure there was no other shrapnel. There was not; it entered clean. He cleaned it up the best he could with the rubbing alcohol.

Sergei looked at it after, drinking more whiskey. It was sore, to be sure. He had an insanely high pain tolerance, however. He stood, going silently to the bathroom again to wash and bandage it.

Lars had started to clean the kitchen up; it was left quite a mess from the makeshift surgery. Sergei figured he could at least throw in to help out.

–

It took quite awhile, but eventually the small flat looked about like they did when they first arrived. Sergei sat at the table, the two of them now bandaged up where they needed to be; luckily the other wounds were just from knife, fist, or club, and were not that serious as they had been considerably more skilled and powerful than their assailants.

Or victims, as the case may be.

Sergei poured another glass of the whiskey, sliding the bottle over to Lars along with his pack of smokes after he took another for himself. Lars looked at it gratefully, taking one out and lighting it. He then sat back, staring at Sergei with his own glass in his hand.

Sergei blinked as he lit his smoke, looking over at him questioningly

"Do...you talk?" Lars finally said, chuckling.

Sergei blew out a stream of smoke. "If I have to." He smirked. "Thank you again."

Lars laughed, the tenseness seemingly falling off of him. "You destroyed so many of them. I'm usually not...so bloodthirsty. I...enjoyed that." He looked off to the side.

Sergei still did not press the matter. It was not his style. He only nodded.

"Didn't want you to stay injured. I don't like leaving men behind."

There it is, he thought. He only took a drag of the cigarette. "I usually work alone."

"Must have it's benefits."

He nodded. He took another sip, moving his arm around. It would be fine, he could feel. He had taken worse.

They drank and smoke in silence for a few moments. Sergei scratched at a spot of blood on his trousers. They looked a little horrific, to be fair; he did try to wipe as much as the blood as he could from them. Lars looked at him again after some time, sliding the glass around the table.

"Where do you go after this?"

"Back to the base. Classified, of course."

"I understand." Lars sat back in the chair. "We have the same enemy. I used to be a part of them. If you need to know information on their whereabouts, I will gladly divulge it. Anything to give them a bloody nose. Or worse." He laughed bitterly. "This entire war is bullshit. G-Corporation fights the Zaibatsu. I've had to fight them both. They've both tried to kill me. The soldiers killed my friend. "

Sergei nodded once. "That is the nature of war." He paused. "My condolences." Sergei had lost men before. Good ones. Ones he was somewhat close to, even. He had been through things that would break others' minds to pieces. He stood strong, though. He was different than a lot of the other men he fought with.

There were times that only through brutal combat could he find solace. Maybe it was him striking out for vengeance long past...he never knew, nor did he think much about it.

"You seem like you enjoy fighting." Lars actually was stunned Sergei would even offer condolences-he did not seem the type. It actually made him feel just a little better. He missed Tougou fiercely, but he knew he had to carry on. He too had been through a lot in his time; one did not fight wars and not go through hell at least once. Many men died from his hands as well, and much like Sergei, he did not use weapons unless he absolutely had to. He watched many die in his grasp or on the ground in front of him.

"I do my job," Sergei replied. He smirked a bit evilly, though.

Lars lit another cigarette. "We fought together once. I won't try to pry into you. Just know you have a contact."

"You as well. I cannot divulge classified information, but..." He lit another cigarette himself. "If I can, I will help you in your fight." He blew out a stream of smoke. "To return the favor."

The two men sat in silence again. Lars had a slight buzz going from the whiskey, but he had a fair tolerance. Sergei felt like he had something to drink, but that was about it. He stood, nodding once and going over to his jacket.

"I should go. Reports."

Lars stood, setting his cigarette down into the ashtray. He saluted, and offered his hand out. His eyes had long lost that menacing cast; they looked rather kind at this point. Sergei guessed it may have been his truer nature; he simply had a dark side to him that could come out during more trying times.

Sergei returned the salute and grasped his hand in a firm handshake.

"Until next time," Lars said. He hoped he would meet him again. As frightening as he was, he liked his style.

"Yes." He started to leave. Lars spoke up again.

"Hey...do you like vodka?"

Sergei stopped, turning his head slightly. He smirked. "Of course."

"Next time, then."

Sergei turned fully around, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I will bring it."

Lars blinked. "Why?"

"I must insist on bringing the better kind." He chuckled. Lars laughed.

"Swedish vodka isn't that bad, you know."

Sergei smiled, nodding once. Lars was nonplussed; he wasn't sure this guy had an actual sense of humor that wasn't gallows-related, as shown earlier when he asked if he liked fighting. He was pleasantly surprised, though.

Sergei finally turned and left. He liked this Lars. He was fairly no-nonsense himself, though more talkative and considerably more easygoing, though still with a definite military streak. Truth be told, he wished him luck on his endeavors. Sergei himself had an interesting sounding job coming up in about nine months, though he did not know too much about it, except that he had to act as a bodyguard of sorts for a rich family; one that had problems with the Zaibatsu, so there was a connection. What little he knew told him the head of the family had contacted the military since they had dealings together.

He did not think too far ahead into the future, usually. He would know more when the time was right.

But between this man and his own work, he thought both the Zaibatsu and the G-Corporation were going to have quite a bit of trouble on their hands in the coming months.


	29. Chapter 29

Overseas Fenris30 Summary:

* * *

Eight months after the mole incident, The Rocheforts are now in New York City for awhile, her father having several business interests there. Lili, heading toward her 20th birthday in the autumn, came there on her summer internship as she is still in her studies, still having about five years to go. Sergei Dragunov continues to enjoy a well-paid position as a bodyguard for the family through her father's deals with the Russian military, and his role in helping their family out of their precarious situation.

Besides duty, there is another reason he takes this job as well...

* * *

Notes:

* * *

I'm back! And going to begin the 2nd arc. This will remain in the 'Erotic Action' genre as the rest of this series, with, of course, a little humor sprinkled in from time to time because there is room for it. As one sees from the summary, we're going to be out of the EU for awhile. I have no idea how long this arc will be, but in any case I hope you all enjoy it!

I will add to this that you can read the arcs out of order, I would suggest reading the first arc first-starting with Reticent Watcher and ending with Blood Price. It will make everything make more sense in context and give you a background of how all of this was build up and there will be things mentioned that happened before that might be confusing; however, you won't be completely lost, so don't fret if you haven't.

Anyway, on with the show!

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

 _New York. I can't remember the last time I was here on business._

Lili looked out of the window of her current dwelling; the Rocheforts had gotten ahold of an entire high-rise for this trip, as the place was owned by the company Mr. Rochefort was dealing with. Lili wasn't sure, but he had apparently purchased the property; Mr. Rochefort, after the trouble with the Zaibatsu, had decided to spread Rochefort Enterprises' influence with more than just oil. Purchasing large property to sell or rent out in a large city could go a long way, especially in the central areas.

It was quite nice to be back in the big city. She would be on another summer internship, but she would have more free time. She sort of hoped it wasn't as 'exciting' as the last summer, though it all ended well.

Very well, actually; the mole was dead and her family had not had any problems for close to eight months now. The Mishima Zaibatsu did still exist, though was apparently going through restructuring. Jin Kazama was alive, though it was unknown if he was looking to head it again...he had changed, she had heard from Hwoarang, whom she was on a friendly basis with. While she was not happy with the way they had gone after her family as much as they did, she was wondering just how much of it was him. Judging by what she heard of the young man...probably not much, though she still wouldn't trust him and hoped Hwoarang would watch himself around him.

She had no idea what was going on elsewhere, though she did hear from Lars once; he was apparently simply hiring himself out for mercenary and bodyguard work. One of those types whose life was chosen for him, she felt, though he was very good at what he did. He was one of the people who helped her out of her predicament, after all. She sort of wanted to come have him work for her, but she was trying to figure out how to approach her father about it. Plus, there was the question if he wanted to. She would have to think about asking him at some point.

The other driving force in solving that problem-besides her own snooping-had been Sergei Dragunov, the man who had now been working for their family when he was not on active duty. Her father paid a large sum to keep him on due to his incredible success rate and everything he had done. While the military did not want to give him up for good, a few months at a time, for the money-as well as oil dealings with Rochefort Enterprises-it was worth it, despite him being their best man. He would be there in New York; she suspected he was being briefed on things at the moment, or with her father at a meeting somewhere. He could, and did, still run missions for them, so he was not completely out of their hands. It was a mutually beneficial relationship...nd not just for Rochefort Enterprises and the Russian military, either.

As she milled around-deciding to put on some coffee to help her settle into her lavish overseas home-she thought back to that first day she met him about two years ago. She had been cross that afternoon since she was miffed that her father didn't trust her, but she had no idea what sorts of attackers he was afraid of. She could have dealt with thugs, and she had thought Sebastian would have been fine as well-aging or no, he was no slouch against a common thug and could still handle a hunting rifle. But he had insisted, so there was nothing to be done for it.

Sergei was huge, frightening-looking, silent, and just plain scary to her at first. He had an abnormal physical strength and was covered in scars that seemingly would have killed a lesser man. She thought he was a cyborg or something, though it turned out that he was indeed human, though she suspected something had gone on with him with military testing. He mostly just wandered about, training or reading books when he wasn't doing his rounds.

He was polite, though, and stayed out of her way; she recalled she had softened to him a bit, especially after discovering a few hidden depths he had.

Everything changed the night of the attack. Heavily armed men; trained mercenaries in full kit with enough technology to defeat the manor's yard alarms. Sergei had killed all four of them with his bare hands and no armor; that night she realized how dead she would have been-she had no clue on how to deal with such heavily-armed types, and Sebastian would have been of little help, either. A handgun was one thing-and even then only one of her kidnappers those years back had one and he was lazy. This was something else.

Their deaths were brutal; she still remembered, though she had seen much, much worse since then. Broken limbs, snapped necks, and he crushed one's skull on the ground in front of him. She did not know the true extent of his power and skill until that night. After that, Sergei was much more attentive. They talked, Lili spilling things to him she never would have thought she would have. Sergei had offered some small comfort...which surprised her. It even surprised him when he reached out to her; he just knew that he wanted to do more than just work for her family on a business deal. +

A friendship formed after that. They spoke quietly more often, and he helped train her in ways she could disarm more heavily armed opponents. The friendship soon became something much more, and she would never forget their first kiss...and what happened a week later.

She shivered as she poured her coffee.

They had what amounted to a secret affair since that night. Her father would never approve, she knew, and he was married to his duty. Yet-they cared more than about anything for each other. It was a strange relationship. They had no pictures of each other-they kept in contact when they were apart only through one or two emails, which were very basic. Even when together they weren't always overly talkative, though they could have long conversations. They talked when they felt like they wanted to. He had even rubbed off on Lili a bit; she was not quite as talkative as she used to be...but she had rubbed off too, and Sergei would say a few more words from time to time.

Their affair could end at any time, as well. But they kept it going...what they had was love, but it was simply...different. It was highly sexual, though-the two greatly enjoyed the physical aspect, and got very, very good with one another. Lili had been a virgin, and Sergei had all of one relationship when he was about seventeen years old that lasted maybe a few weeks. All they needed was instinct, though-and they soon discovered favorite things.

Lili was often quite thankful Sergei developed the sexual preferences that he did.

She was okay with their setup. She got mad at times-cursing him-sometimes to his face-that he just didn't leave and take her somewhere. He would simply look at her in silence before touching her. He wished, many times, that it could be different...but for now, it just had to be the way it was.

As she sat in the air-conditioned room, looking out the window and sipping her coffee, she did hope he would arrive soon.

I miss you, Sergei. It's been eight months.

But you know that.

–

She stirred in her bed from the soft knocking. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and adjusting her small tank top as she walked over to the door, quite loving the giant condo she was given for the stay as she looked around. The nap had been short; just enough for her to refresh from the day.

She didn't bother checking; opening the door, she stepped aside as the hulking frame of her lover moved inside as she quickly closed the door; no one was about, and there would be nothing suspicious anyway.

She stood back, folding her arms.

Eight months is far too long, she thought as she looked him up and down. He looked down at her, that tiny smirk on his face that he would always get around her.

He had a few more scars than she remembered-but this was nothing new. He would always come back with at least one or two, given that he was often on long tours of duty. He was probably on one for at least four months, if his last message was any indication. Otherwise-he looked no worse for the wear. She saw the extra bullet wound he had gotten dealing with her enemies; she could see the scar looked fresher than the others, as it was not quite a year old. His hair looked about the same-he liked the length it was at, as he preferred it long, but not in the way.

He always wore similar clothing when on bodyguard duty; a tank top and some sort of cargoes-sometimes camouflage, sometimes plain neutral colors-and his huge, steel-reinforced combat boots that complimented the kicks he often liked to utilize in his personalized Sambo style. He'd wear a jacket if it got cold, or a flak vest if he was expecting trouble.

She did like to see him in his more formal dress as well, those times he wore it. But there was something about this setup that always made him look ready to fight, which she did love to watch. She didn't necessarily like watching him kill, but she loved to watch him fight. The killing she knew was unfortunate but usually unavoidable, in his case. He did seem more alive than normal in a battle, however-she knew that was who he was. It was a side to him that she accepted...and she even liked it when he did things for her.

He leaned against the wall, folding his own arms to check her out as he would. Her hair was perhaps two inches shorter than it was, though it was still plenty long. She was as fit as ever, given her fairly decent training regimen that she held. She had on her more casual outfits-a rather nice looking shorter skirt with a tank top, given the weather-but as usual, she kept them rather impeccable looking.

Otherwise she was the same beautiful young woman he always knew. He missed her terribly in that eight months; he was glad to be able to at least correspond with her somewhat.

Lili started the discussion as always.

"You look good for being almost thirty." She knew he would be turning in about a month and a half.

He snorted laughter, brushing back a bit of his hair that had fallen down. She walked closer to look up at him.

"How many strings did you have to pull this time?"

"Not many. Your father seems to like having me around on foreign trips."

"So do I," she replied, finally resting her head on his chest and letting his arms slide around her. He held her tighter to him, reaching up to stroke her hair.

Lili leaned into him, thinking that three-quarters of a year apart was borderline cruelty at this point. She could sense he was very glad to be back, just from his touch. It was all he needed.

Lifting her head, he bent lower to kiss her finally. First lightly, though he quickly deepened it. Eight months was far, far too long; the two had been sort of waiting for whey they would get to do anything again.

They broke, Lili shifting. She knew, however, they'd have to wait some time. Within the next hour they'd have to meet up with Sebastian and a few others, and it could be at any time; even a quickie would be too risky. As much as they wanted to, they decided to refrain...for now. This evening, however, they would be free.

"I have coffee on," Lili said, walking into the kitchen, fixing the hair he had messed a bit with his huge hand. She poured a cup...adding a bottle to the counter next to it. She knew how Sergei liked to drink his with a shot of vodka from time to time. He smirked when he saw her take it out.

"Been busy?" he asked. He rarely asked if she was okay, unless something harrowing happened. She didn't mind this; it seemed like idle small talk. Asking if she had been busy pointed that he wanted to hear what she did over the past months.

She nodded. "Classes, Internships. Meetings. The boring ones you always had to sit in on." She laughed.

Sergei chuckled. He could take boredom, but he admitted to letting his eyes wander a few times a those.

"Dad's been more protective of me, though, as you can imagine. Makes guards follow me all the time," she snorted.

"You've been practicing what I taught you?"

"As much as I can. The clinch techniques are better with another person."

He nodded. "We'll catch up."

"You seemed to have gone through a bit."

"Nothing more than usual."

She chuckled, sipping the coffee in silence for awhile, as they would do. This was common for them; simply sitting there in a comfortable silence.

After a time, she looked at him again. She always wondered a few things about him even now. Sergei was far, far paler than any human being she had ever met. She knew he was human; he had no cybernetics in him or anything like that, and he did not seem to suffer from any sort of possession or weird devil genes that apparently went around the Mishima family-something she didn't think about too hard or it made her head hurt.

But besides his appearance, he had always demonstrated physical ability that was beyond any regular human she met. The bags he would knock to the ground in their training room were bags that some of her bigger, stronger guards could barely budge, and she also knew how much force it took to do things like, say, smash a man's head with a single blow; that was something that even one of the strongest people would have trouble doing.

She never got around to asking him about this. She thought maybe, one day, she would; she would just have to find the right time to approach the question.

Lili had no idea why she was weird with it, as she knew Sergei would not get upset about it. At worst, he would just choose not to talk about it. She knew him-that was how he worked.

Truth be told, he liked talking with her about their pasts. He had heard the story of her kidnapping soon after the first night they had gotten together, and they had occasionally told a story to one another throughout their time. It was more of a case of Lili being a little shy to approach some things, and Sergei simply never thinking to discuss the past.

Her phone buzzed, snapping them both back to their thoughts from their silence. She grabbed it, seeing that the limo was waiting for them downstairs. There would be a short meeting with some of her family and a few people-an orientation type of thing-and then she would be free for the rest of the weekend.

Sergei finished his drink and stood up, stretching a moment; it had been a long flight for him as well. He held his hand out to Lili, almost gentleman-like. She giggled a bit at that.

"Guess you'll behave for a few minutes?" she grinned, going to get her clothes together; she swapped into a pair of jeans for this meeting, though kept the tank top; it was quite hot out. She took a blouse with her to put on inside, which was at least air-conditioned.

Sergei watched as she got dressed; shifting a moment. If you had asked him that evening he may have said one of the hardest things he had to deal with the past two weeks was restraining himself at that particular moment. Judging by the look on her face, she was feeling the same thing; she indeed decided to hurry lest they begin to wonder where the two were at.

She exhaled deeply. "To the limo."

He held the door open for her, bowing. She stood, leaning upward to give him a light kiss on the mouth, which he returned.

"Welcome back," she said, chuckling.

He only touched her under the chin before leaving for the elevator, looking around at the building he would be living at until the winter, assuming all went well.

Lili watched him as he walked off, enjoying the silence of the hallway.

She figured they'd be back here soon enough, anyway.


	30. Chapter 30

The afternoon went on longer than Lili would have liked. Her father and Sebastian seemed extra diligent with things after the mole incident, making sure to give Sergei a lot of security instructions. Besides being her personal bodyguard-and occasionally Mr. Rocheforts if he had certain meet-ups that made him nervous-he was also instructed in giving the security light tactical training.

She did not complain that one of these instructions was to preferably reside close to Lili in the Rochefort's New York high-rise, just in case-and to be particularly keen with security measures there. Sergei simply would nod or say a few words, but his expression did not give anything away, as usual.

He had no problem with his instructions. It would make...certain things a lot easier knowing that he was actually supposed to be in the places where he was milling about.

Besides that, they were given several schedules and she was introduced to a few new people. She did not get any bad feelings around these, so she counted that as a plus. Even though it had been nearly a year, she still had enough corporate intrigue to last her for ages. They touched on the situation with the Zaibatsu somewhat, but it was fairly shrouded in mystery with what was going on, or if Jin was even still leading it, if his grandfather had taken it back over, or if it was in a power vacuum at the moment. At the end of the day, they all managed to agree that so long as they didn't bother them, they weren't too bothered with what was going on exactly.

By the time they were finished and the limo was taking them back-Lili mused that she quite enjoyed the fact they always managed to get some sort of high-rise, as she loved to look out over the city-she was ready to just lay back in her new place, get acquainted with it, and not think about anything that had to do with her upcoming work for the next two days. She would, at least, get to do more interesting things than board room meetings, lunch meetings, and dinner meetings.

Maybe I'll get a few brunch meetings this time. She knew, though, she actually had a few more duties this time. Things she would have to pay close attention to. If you had asked her five years ago, she'd have told you inheriting a huge corporation couldn't have involved that much.

After nodding to Sebastian, saying that she would let him know about any sort of meals or whatnot-she went to the elevator, Sergei following as per his instructions. Lili smirked softly as she pressed the button to the top floor.

Upon reaching the place, she went inside, tossing aside the blouse and taking her boots off; she sat on the edge of the bed, sighing at the air conditioning. She looked over, debating making some more coffee...until she noticed Sergei removing his own shirt and his boots, looking over at her with a very familiar look on his face.

It was a somewhat hungry look.

She knew the exact look. She suspected she was looking at him the same way. She stood as he somewhat quickly walked over to her, running his hands down her back to remove her tank top and bra in quick succession; she was down to very little as he leaned in to kiss her deeply, his tongue probing her mouth. She returned the favor-remembering how much she liked kissing him and how good he had gotten at it with her.

He pushed her down to the bed, sliding his hands up to pull off her small, black underwear. Not bothering yet with the skirt-it wasn't in the way at the moment anyway-he kissed her again, down her neck and her chest as he slid his hand down, one finger stroking her already-wet center. Sergei thought all told both of them had done an admirable job of controlling themselves until now; it was clear-from his actions and the way Lili had started running her nails down his back and stroking his hair-they were both completely done with self control.

He kissed her stomach for awhile; lingering, deep ones. Kisses that clearly showed he was pleased to be where he was. He looked up at her a moment.

"We have nothing this evening?"

Lili, breathing heavily at this point, repositioned herself so she was leaning a bit against the headboard, a couple of larger pillows under her. She hiked her skirt up a bit more. "Nothing."

He smirked, raising his eyebrow as he went back to kissing her; he reached her mound, giving it the same slow, lingering kisses. It was pretty clear he was asking about the rest of the day because he had no intention of stopping for awhile. She shivered as he positioned lower, opening her gently with his fingers as he started giving her slow strokes with his tongue, directly up and down. He bent lower and began giving her center the same kisses he was previously giving her mound and stomach; he allowed his tongue to slowly swirl right around her now-dripping opening. He slid it inside a few times, just to cover it in her taste.

Lili moaned loudly; he was doing everything she liked already-including that slow build up that he seemed to enjoy. He loved this highly intimate act and she loved when he did it. She had a feeling he would be going for awhile, given how long they had been apart. They had missed each other terribly-and far more than just sexually.

Though catching up on that was certainly fun. They would have preferred not being forced to catch up...but they were accepting of their situation.

He knew it wouldn't take him long for her to come the first time, but they had plenty of time after that. He continued, pushing close, giving her long licks up and down before teasing her clit with his lips, barely sucking on it. She wound her fingers into his hair and slid her legs up; his hands massaged her thighs, always loving how the toned muscle felt. He would occasionally pause to kiss one, or lick down lower before teasing her clit again.

He decided to get her off; sucking her clit as he swirled his tongue around it, he felt her tense up and release; she let out a quivering cry and kept thrusting toward him. The first release after the past eight months-that didn't come from her own hand, as they would both occasionally release themselves-felt exquisite.

Sergei did not even stop; he slowed for a few moments to lick up what came, but then pressed back to her, thrusting his tongue inside of her as he massaged her thighs, a hand occasionally stroking her stomach as well. He looked up at her a moment, seeing her pleased expression; her face was flushed as she kept her hand in his hair as she partially maneuvered his head to do what she liked. He always caught on. She was once again grateful that he was not only amazing on her with his mouth and tongue, but he liked putting them to use on her.

She saw him stop for a moment to free himself, but when she started to sit up, he gently pushed her back and lifted his head to smirk; she could tell he wasn't finished yet. She moaned out when she felt him start again.

Her thoughts came and went; usually they just focused on the pleasure at hand. She had no idea how much time had passed; Sergei never skimped on foreplay, but this time he seemed to be going more extensive than normal. He wrapped both of his arms under her waist to hold her up; he pressed his mouth close to her center as she thrust. He seemed to almost be going at this in a much more intense way than normal; it was clear he had missed her terribly, and it went well beyond the sexual aspect.

He was getting painfully hard, though he decided to take his time a bit longer. He thought he could. It didn't matter to him; he would go at things quickly afterward and feel relieved-he figured later tonight they would do more, anyway. Indeed, Lili planned on returning this favor later on, as she was in complete bliss at the moment.

As he licked faster, beginning to suck at her clit again after allowing some of the worst of the sensitivity to pass, he felt her begin to shiver. Her moans grew louder-she couldn't remember a time she had been this vocal. He began to match her rhythm, holding her up, letting his tongue run underneath to tease her from behind as well, causing more sudden squeals.

Lili wasn't sure what he was doing by the end, but he seemed to bring her right to the brink...and then hold back. She actually began to mutter things under her breath while gasping; this was something that she never did. She was vocal, and of course talkative normally-but she wasn't much into that during sex...today, though, she let a few words escape.

Sergei finally brought her over again; she came hard, and he wasted no time licking it all off of her, drinking in what he could. His eyes were closed as he savored her; he massaged her rear as he held her up.

When he was done, he gently lowered her. She was panting at this point; sweat standing out on her brow, despite her having the room set quite cool. She could feel the bed underneath of her rather wet, along with her midsection and thighs. Catching her breath, she glanced at him; his mouth and chin were quite wet, as well. He licked his lips, a slight, self-satisfied smirk on his face. She guessed it was due to the fact he managed to get actual words out of her.

"Shut up," she giggled.

Sergei just shrugged, the smirk never leaving his face. He stroked himself a few times, looking at her questioningly.

While Lili would have loved to have gotten him off as well, his rather extensive oral session had left her rather beat this time. Not that she minded. She figured she could get him later tonight, when he least expected it. She nodded, positioning a bit more comfortable; she was quite fine with him being on top this time.

He began to thrust; always starting slowly as he did, though he suspected that he was going to come fairly quickly. He had no idea how long he had been down on her, but it was a long time. He still tasted her on his mouth when he licked his lips, and this made him even hornier if that was possible. Positioning with his knee on her side, supporting himself off the bed with his other leg, he ran one hand down her face, his thumb tracing her mouth. She kissed it once before licking quickly at it. He leaned in to kiss her harder; getting a little rough this time. Her nails began to rake down his back again as he picked up the intensity of his thrusts.

Lili gasped; it always felt good, and she was well worn from the intense oral session he gave her just moments ago. She matched his thrusts, clamping down around him as she gave him a squeeze with her thighs; with a low growl he soon came, thrusting harder until he was finished. His head down and his eyes closed, she smiled at the look on his face; it was one of relief, but as he looked at her it became one of affection. As close as he got with that, anyway; she could tell, though. Others probably wouldn't have been able to, though she sort of hoped no one else saw what they just did.

He separated, settling down on the bed after folding a pillow under his head. She quickly joined him under his arm. They both always enjoyed these silent moments that they would often take afterward. She looked up at him to smooth down his hair that she had done a rather good job of messing up while he was going down on her. He smirked, kissing her lightly as he leaned over to pull an ashtray out of the drawer-she had put one there for him, and lit a cigarette, leaning against the headboard.

She went back under his arm. She was not ready to leave yet...and judging by how tightly he held her, he was not ready to let her go.

–

After their shower, they sat around the kitchen; each had coffee and Sergei was smoking as he always did. He had simply thrown on his cargoes-he had not even bothered with underwear. Neither did Lili-she had on a long tank top, and that was it. Sergei quite liked his view. He felt very pleasant after everything; he would relax with her-likely catching up on things as he liked to do-and perhaps later have a little more fun.

Ten years ago he never would have guessed he would have actually enjoyed this sort of thing.

Lili moved about, checking around the cabinets; she had to get acquainted with this new place. It was well-set up, though she would be sure to go out and do some shopping this week to give it her own touch; she would be here for several weeks, and her family did own the building now and so she would likely be back, as well.

She finally went to sit down, Sergei tossing the heavy oaken chair out without blinking. Lili moved it herself; it was very heavy. She finally decided to ask what had made her curious.

"You are much more than most men," she started, chuckling.

He smirked at her. "In which way do you mean?"

She laughed. "Both." Sipping her coffee, she continued. "Sergei-we've known for two years now. We've been...for most of that." She trailed off, adjusting her shirt, never knowing what to call it. "I've seen what you can do. How...you're human, I know."

He sat back, putting his hands behind his head. Sergei was perceptive; he had to be in his line of work. He knew what she was asking. "I'm the only one left."

Lili blinked. "Of...?" She decided to pour a little Irish Creme into her coffee.

"When I was eighteen, they chose six of us. Six of the strongest, most fierce, and without any known family. I was the first one chosen." He smirked at that. "It took them perhaps six weeks to decide the rest."

Lili chuckled; she was not surprised they picked him first. She could guess why they took people without family ties, though; she had a feeling what she was about to hear was dangerous.

"The military was doing some...mix of drug and genetic testing. It's the best way to describe it. Not actually giving us powers or implants-in those days implants were not that common anyway."

She twitched a little at the "In those days," comment. She knew "in those days" how young she was. While she was almost twenty now, she occasionally had reminders their ten-year age difference was still there, though it didn't matter at all now.

He continued. "They were apparently made so we could better use our bodies to their more maximum potential."

Lili nodded. "I learned. We have more potential that we can actually use. Our bodies keep us from using it."

"Yes. This was to try to surpass that." He sipped his drink, lighting another cigarette. "We were subject mostly to injections and other infusions. One died within three days, but the rest of us made it."

"...wow." She never knew. She figured there had been something with him. "So it let you...do more."

"We were simply made more to be able to withstand more harm. Not immortal, of course. We could die like anyone, though we were more resilient. But sure enough the other four were killed from various things after the first year, though. Gunned down. One got too egotistical and felt himself immortal. A sniper taught him differently."

"And the other two?"

He took a deep drag of his smoke. "One through suicide. Shot himself. The other I killed. He went mad on the battlefield, killing three of our own before I was able to put him down. They were unable to determine what caused it. They tried to examine me...but nothing. I was only affected with some minor side effects. They kept me under observation for a week...nothing."

Lili blinked. "I guess they didn't want to replace the dead?"

"They were unsure how good of an idea it was after that. But after they had examined me for awhile, I was put back on full duty. After a few more confidential sessions, the matter was dropped. No one has spoken of it since."

"I won't say anything." She smiled.

"I know." He touched her hand briefly as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Has it affected you?" She loved to hear him talk, to tell stories about his past. She knew he didn't do this with anyone else, ever. She took this chance whenever she got one. She knew he would only talk more under certain circumstances, and this was one of them.

"No." He smirked. "It's been long enough now that it feels natural. I am not superhuman. Only able to use my natural abilities better than a typical man."

"Your eyes?"

He smiled. "They thought I went blind overnight. I was fine. I was always pale, this just seemed to make it worse. Bright sunlight does not agree with me."

"Did the others have things, too?"

"One's hair went white. That was all."

She sat back, thinking. That's how he destroys enemies the way he does. She knew that a regular person, given enough time, could do immense damage while beating an enemy to death; she had heard what Hwoarang had done to a particularly brutal gang member once. But Sergei did that and much more-and he did it so quickly, and with seemingly little effort. A person his size would likely need an axe or something of that nature to do that much damage in that short of a time frame.

No wonder.

He sat back, quiet again. He touched her face.

"Thank you," she said.

He nodded, back to his quiet self. He did not mind at all telling her stories. It was the one time he didn't mind talking. He did not mind words that had a purpose; and for him, allowing the young woman who was a very close presence in his life to know a bit more about him was a good enough reason. He had thought about those times now and again-how long would he have lived without it?

He thought he would probably have done fine otherwise, as the boost it gave was not to inhuman levels. He remembered how strange it was to be able to utilize more of his natural strength than a regular person, without suffering drawbacks. The treatments had strengthened muscle, bone, and tendon enough that they did not tear and rip under duress.

When a person performs great feats of strength while under adrenaline, he knew what they didn't tell people was the damage it did to them afterward...damage they didn't realize they did while on the adrenaline rush. When he had just joined, he remembered a squadmate helping his brother by lifting an immense piece of concrete and steel off of him after an accident; the man's arms needed a very, very long time to recover given the tendons were ripped to shreds, and he recalled the man did not have the same use of one of his arms after, even. They never tell people this in the reports, he knew.

In the end, the changes did not make the men immortal, not by a longshot. Bullets and knives were just as deadly. Nor did it turn them into unstoppable juggernauts; it simply had allowed them to use deadly force better. He also never blamed them for not doing more-with the result of their test having one die and two more go mad, it was not an ideal cocktail that they put together.

Lili thought about his story. It was truly impressive, and she was grateful that he was the survivor. She knew the military was not above doing things like this...and she wondered what else other laboratories and the like were doing in the background. She hoped she would not have to deal with any of the really nasty things.

She stood, moving to sit on his lap as he placed his cigarette off to the side. His large hand slid around her waist, holding her there. She inhaled, missing his scent. Turning a bit, she rest her head on his as he held her there on his lap. She occasionally ran a hand through his freshly-washed hair.

When he was done his other cigarette, he slid both arms around her. He knew he missed her, but it hit him more some moments than others, and this was one of those times. They were silent; Sergei sometimes stroking her side. Neither of them knew how much time had passed.

Sergei finally leaned up to kiss her, which she returned. She finally stood, stretching out; she had sat there a long time. She started to walk over to the bed, only to feel a hand brush up her thigh and rear; given that she was not wearing underwear, it was directly against the skin. She chuckled.

"Sergei?"

He smirked, standing as he followed her to the bed.

Eight months was a very long time to be apart, after all.


	31. Chapter 31

Lili was quite surprised how early she woke up, given the extra fun she had the night before. A lot of extra fun.

Dressed only in her robe, she sat on the big, soft recliner she had in her room, sipping a cup of coffee as she watched the sky outside. The clouds were very thick this day, and she knew it would be amazingly humid out; she was happy she was in her cool condo, and didn't plan on doing much of anything this day, either.

Checking the weather on the phone next to her table for a moment, it seemed that they were in for a stormy week-it was one of the summer 'perks' of being on the East Coast. She would have to remember her larger umbrella and to give extra instructions to the limo driver, mostly to ensure she would get dropped off in suitable areas. While she loved showers, saunas, and swimming, she did not like getting wet in the rain, unless it was a very specific instance of 'being in an outdoor pool at the moment.'

Sitting back and relaxing some more, she turned to look at Sergei, who was laying back on the bed against its padded headboard and reading. He was always up before her; he seemingly woke around six every morning, regardless of when he went to sleep...which last night was probably closer to two. She wasn't sure. She long lost track of time given the things Sergei was doing to her. She still had an amazingly pleasant ache in midsection. She had a feeling more would happen yet again today. They were particularly wanting each others company again.. Due to simply growing closer and closer yet over these two years, the time apart got worse.

He turned a page, leaning over to sip his own coffee. He looked about as domestic as Sergei Dragunov would ever look in his life...which even then wasn't that much. Given he was still wearing his camouflage trousers in the bed and was reading some book on weaponry, he looked exactly like a soldier who had woken up and was possibly preparing for a covert mission later in the day.

She enjoyed watching him, though. It had been so long. She usually just left him to his own devices-that was how they were with one another. But this time they had been just that much closer; she was enjoying just going between staring at the incoming rain clouds out the window, and watching him read on the bed.

He finally glanced up from his book, looking back at her with a small smirk on his face.

She often thought about how many times he had saved her...and how many times he had killed for her. She knew part of it was his duty...but she also knew that he took things a bit further sometimes than what would be required of him, just to ensure her safety.

But unlike the other guards she had-who really never ended up doing much but looking moderately imposing-he also helped her with the means to better protect herself by helping her with training. He helped her refine her personal, self-taught dancer's style into something even more sleek and skilled. She really enjoyed mixing in the grabs he had taught her, and found them to be highly effective, especially in the hands of someone as agile as she.

More than that, she had missed another presence in her life who she could truly communicate with, despite his silence. Her father was always doting on her, and loved her dearly, as did Sebastian. But they were parental figures, and quite different. A few of her closer servants were the same; they felt more parental than anything. She was unduly grateful for all of them, as they did help turn her into the young lady she was now. Her maid, Marie, did help her during some of those times where she did not have a mother to talk to-but there were still things that she did not tell her.

Her friends were more of types that she had fun with. Oh, she shared gossip and confided in them and such...but at the end of the day she had never had that one friend that she could tell anything to. Some had come close...but until Sergei she didn't have that. He was more than a lover to her; he was that friend whom she discuss absolutely anything with...and he would help her solve it, if he could.

Lili had more layers than people could have guessed; some had mistaken her for a more shallow rich girl. Her friends that knew her well knew she was more than that, but there was still aspects to her they didn't know-besides Sergei, none of them knew about the danger her family could get into every so often-or danger that was seemingly forced upon them. Even Sergei did not know her depths at first, until the night of the attack.

None of them would ever know some of the things she had ordered Sergei to do. Or, well, just let him know about, and that he could make the decision himself.

She was not blind that she didn't know what he usually had in mind in those darker situations. She probably knew it damn well in the back of her head, but wanted her own hands to remain clean.

She turned back to sip more coffee. The best thing about this situation was that he left her to her own devices. He helped if she needed it, but all of those stories she heard from her friends of their boyfriends 'smothering' them never happened with him. He knew she could take care of herself, and he only stepped in if duty required it, if she asked...or if she genuinely needed something and he could tell. Both of them had the flaw of refusing help until absolutely necessary; Lars had to do some gentle convincing to Sergei in the past in getting help with a couple of things.

If an outsider had witnessed what they had, they'd have thought they had a mutually beneficial physical affair going at best.

Or fuck buddies. Let's call it as they would.

They both knew it was far more, though, and that was what mattered. Sergei had never told anyone else the stories he told her; the only people who knew were the people who were there, or other superiors who had his dossier on file. The story he told the evening before was only in his more secret information that very few knew about, as that old time had been buried fairly deeply.

Sergei looked over again at Lili, who he noticed was watching him. He put the book down to walk over to her, sitting next to her on the couch. He said nothing, as he would. He would always wait for her to start, if she even wanted to.

She looked over at him, only to rest her head on his chest. She normally was not this...touchy. Lili could be very affectionate, but liked her space from time to time-yet another thing that seemed to go extremely well with Sergei. But after that eight months-and maybe the more harrowing situation she had been in-she had liked to be close to him these past two days.

When she felt his arms slide around her, she could tell by the way he held her there that he felt the same way at the moment. She was once again thankful at her father's orders; with him getting to stay in her condo, these days were going to be so much easier. The condo had several gigantic rooms, over multiple floors, and one of these was his; it would be easy, if a servant rang the bell, for him to head off into it without them being the wiser. At the manor, they had to sneak around much more, even though the room he stayed in was close to hers, for security purposes.

As she positioned onto his chest, his hand running through her hair, she thought back on just how strange it was that they ended up like this. She looked up at him. His hair was down as it usually was when he was on downtime, though it was pushed back. She smirked.

"Train with me later?"

He nodded. "I like the facility."

"Same here. Ours at home is better, though." She smiled. The building had a full gym in it with a ring. She was sure they could sneak down. The servants-or anyone-would probably not like to see her training her battle skills, though they knew she worked out for her dancing.

Sergei looked her up and down; her robe was partially open, and nothing was left to his imagination. He was comfortable, she was comfortable...he wasn't sure if she wanted to do anything sexual. He leaned in to kiss her once; it was light and lingering, just allowing a little tongue in. She squirmed, letting out a soft moan.

That told him everything. He swapped positions, laying her down on the couch and positioning above her...and she slid a leg over his shoulder just for a moment before sliding it off, along with her robe. She smirked at him, raising her eyebrows once. She had given him a rather suggestive view.

He bent low to flick his tongue around her midsection; already wet, he gave her light strokes before pulling back...smirking at her. She bit her lip, having already started moaning.

He's teasing me...goddammit...She was not upset though. She slid a leg over his shoulder again to see if she could tease him back as he leaned in to kiss her mound, going down to kiss her wet midsection, running his tongue over his lips to get the taste off. He went back to giving her light, slow strokes; Lili gave him a look that was somewhere between jokingly tormented and at the same time, rather loving. She knew he liked doing this just to get her off better later.

Sergei, as always, went with an action-over-words point of view and figured he'd put his mouth to good use for awhile this morning. He continued teasing her for a little while, occasionally licking right around her opening as she got wetter over the minutes. She was quite vocal; after yesterday, she was satisfied...but also fairly ready to go again quickly in the morning. She had woken up just a little horny; sleeping naked next to him for the first time after all of this time-was both comforting to her...and a little arousing as she woke up.

He was taking care of her rather nicely, she mused as she squealed. He began to flick his tongue against her clit for a few times, still not pressing into her; she thrust her hips toward him, trying to coax him to delve in. It felt so good this morning. It always did, but there were those times where she was more sensitive.

He gave her what she wanted and pushed close, delivering his more intense style of pleasure that he would do. He massaged her thighs with his hands as his tongue worked furiously; he heard Lili cry out softly as she held onto his head while she came. He sucked at her clit, licking roughly at her to taste everything. When he felt her settle back, he slid his head lower a moment to suck at her a little more right around where most of her taste was gathered. He licked his lips several time and sat up when he was finished, stroking her side as she looked at him, heavy-lidded. He leaned down to nuzzle at her stomach and thighs, settling on the huge couch in such a way where he could lay there.

Lili sighed in content, sliding her robe back on her shoulders and stroking her hair as he lay there. One hand stroked her side as he smirked up at her a moment before closing his eyes. She was amused; he seemed to mean to take a nap there by the look. Not that she minded. She was very pleased and comfortable at the moment, always thinking the way he would nuzzle her after oral sex somewhere between 'extremely hot' and 'sort of cute'. About as cute as Sergei could ever get, anyway.

"Stay?" she asked.

He nodded, adjusting himself in his rather comfortable spot as he relaxed.

She thought that perhaps calling her servants for breakfast right now might not be the best idea.


	32. Chapter 32

Coming Storm Fenris30

Summary:

* * *

Currently in New York City, Lili continues her training path to eventually take over Rochefort Enterprises; she also continues her very under-the-radar relationship with her bodyguard, friend and lover Sergei Dragunov. She thought she would get away without any real action...but it seems that action and some sort of problems follow these two no matter where they go.

* * *

Notes:

* * *

This chapter has some graphic violence in it-so just giving a heads up there. You all know to expect smut and more smut, but I'll continue to give a brief violence warning if it's the nastier variety.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

* * *

Chapter 1

Two weeks had passed since their arrival, and Lili had settled into her new routine rather nicely; she enjoyed it much more than the last time since she was more proactive. She liked her position; she didn't have to dress in as stuffy a manner as the other suits, for one. She could wear her own fashions as she pleased. She was technically an intern-but being the daughter of the CEO and the company's heiress, she had a lot more pull.

She did not abuse her position, though. Oh, sure, she occasionally got herself some better food and drinks and got a full espresso maker installed in the office next door to one of the major boardrooms but she put paid to the skepticism that she would just be a spoiled brat throwing her weight around. She cared about the company-especially since it had gone through trying times in the past-and wanted to see it thrive.

She was a little spoiled, perhaps, but not a brat.

There had been no incidents so far. Only two weeks in, she thought. Anything can happen. While she liked excitement, she felt that this summer could be one of more laid-back activities...among other ones.

She was finished for the day. It was around three, but given her position as an intern, she did not have to work a full day there. It was part studies, so she would have to do a few odds and ends in the evening. Checking the weather, it would be sunny today with some storms rolling in later on. She could use this afternoon to mill about some department stores. She had not done that in a few days, and she thought her wardrobe was wanting for a few more pieces that she could play with.

She called for the limo as she left the office, taking her small bag with her. Sergei waited outside the door, in full 'bodyguard mode.' On his upper body, besides his tank top, he wore his thin Kevlar vest; Mr. Rochefort insisted that he wear a little protection, just in case. For his own safety, since he heard about some of the injuries he had sustained. She could see the holster for his handgun peeking out. She had fired it before.

That's something we haven't done for awhile. Maybe after shopping, if I can sneak out.

He bowed to her, walking next to her as they left the building. She looked up at Sergei and smirked as they stepped into the limo.

"Lunch, then shopping," she told the driver, Alain. He nodded. Sergei smirked as he helped her in.

Why does this amuse me so much...?

–

Lili was looking over some documents when she saw Sergei enter the other room. The look on his face was rather unhappy. She blinked, spinning her chair around as she heard the door to one of the several guest rooms shut.

What was that about?

She tried to concentrate, but couldn't. She always got a little concerned on the odd time she saw him look a bit riled; it was not like him. She decided to go into the kitchen to put on coffee and order some snacks; they had made some lovely small chocolate cakes for dinner and she wouldn't mind having an extra one of them, some coffee, and some Irish Creme. Perhaps Sergei would calm down a little with it.

About an hour passed, her servants bringing her all she requested and then some. She sat down, starting to enjoy the snack...but became a bit nervous. Sergei had not come out of the downstairs room yet. She knew that if something was going on with the company, he'd have let her know.

He eventually came back up, though he looked fairly calm. Lili had moved to the couch with another cup, curled up with her laptop, surfing around various things. She looked up at him as he walked over. He crouched down, kissing her lightly.

"I need to go out for awhile."

"Is everything..."

He nodded. "It's...confidential."

Lili understood. There were things with the military that he could not even tell her. He probably told her more than he should, truth be told; but one never knew what sort of ears were hiding behind walls. She knew if he didn't say anything, it was for a damn good reason. "It's okay," she said. She kissed him as well. He returned it, stroking her down the face once as he went to apparently go gather up some equipment.

I hope he's alright, she thought. Well...it's Sergei. Of course he'll be.

It didn't stop her from wondering, though.

–

Sergei went to his downstairs room to gather up a few of his things. He had a bit of a trip to take. Within the city, to be sure, but it was a bit of a ways out. He would have to drive himself; he could not risk the limo for this. He did not want to endanger anyone in the Rocheforts' household.

He grabbed his sleeveless, Kevlar shirt along with his slim tactical vest-he slid his knife into it. He holstered his GSh-18, arranging all of his gear. He also brought along his GPS and a few other odds and ends, ensuring he had a way to contact headquarters.

He had gotten word from a contact close to the military that a longtime enemy had surfaced again...and they were right here in New York City about to meet with an unknown group of contacts. It was not surprising they would be here. Huge cities were ripe for finding organized crime if you knew where to look-and they knew where to look.

He was told by one of his superiors to go check the general area they had gotten information on. They did not give him other orders, but he read between the lines and knew that he could deal with them if necessary.

Naturally, Sergei had his own plans when it came to this.

Finished his preparation, he grabbed his keys and quietly left through the back to the garage, getting into his jeep. Thanks to it having been in their private parking garage in the shade, it was not terribly hot inside, though it was stuffier than he would have liked. The air conditioning took care of that.

Checking the GPS, he plugged in the coordinates, turned the vehicle on, and drove out. It was dusk, and he could find a good place to hang out, still in communication with his superior.

They will be in for a rude surprise if they're here...

–

Sergei eventually reached his destination. He got out of the jeep, locking it up. He decided to send a few messages to his superior, letting him know he was in the general area. His plan was to poke around a few shops, before winding his way to the apparent place. He was to then lay low and listen in to what he could...and then determine the best course of action. Everything would likely take him awhile; he suspected he would not be back until quite late.

He also figured he cut a bit of an odd figure compared to the other odd person he ran into. While there were people still milling about, as it was only about eight and they were in New York, the six-and-a-half foot tall, ghostly pale man was not exactly...covert.

The actual place he had to stake out was, naturally, not in the center. It was more off to the dock area; in other words, a place that any normal person would be a little wary to go after dark unless they were with a group. He would walk, as it would give him the that he needed. The area was about perfect to deal with illicit shipments-many an illegal or shady item came in mixed up with legit stuff. Most of the workers did not even know about it; but then again many an ordinary person had no clue about the shadowy underworld, some of which could be right under their noses.

He figured they were better off not knowing, as people who knew too much could end up in rather unhealthy positions.

He wiped some sweat from his brow; as he got closer to the harbor, the smells changed from the not-unpleasant city smells of various restaurants and the like, to the more stagnant and damp smells of the docks and the rather dirty water they sat near. He suspected, from the clouds rolling in, there would soon be drizzle; he wouldn't mind it so much. The lights flickered a bit more around here-it was clear the harbor area was left in a bit more of a state of decay.

He suspected he had been walking for close to an hour now, and there was literally no one around. There probably wouldn't be until five or so in the morning, when they opened again. He took went over to one of the building's corners and removed his night-vision binoculars; scanning the area, he saw no one yet, and double checked the coordinates. He was in the right place.

He also scoped out potential escape routes...preferably discreet ones. He had a feeling he would have to end up using them. He also was formulating a few backup plans. Besides his brutality and skill, he was also prized for being able to plan out tactics rather quickly in his head. It came in extremely handy for on-the-fly missions and sudden situations.

He decided to simply quietly wander an area until he saw some activity. Finally, a single car pulled around the other side; it clearly didn't see him back where he was. Taking out his binoculars, he zoomed in, seeing two men wearing leather coats wander into one of the warehouses.

No doubt picking up a shipment...

He had no high-end surveillance equipment with him; he had let his superior know, as no one had anticipated this. His superiors may have known, but kept things covert until they knew for security purposes. He had no idea; it was not his place to ask. But his binoculars, a phone camera and his own ears would be enough to send them what they wanted.

He had his bare hands, as well as a couple of weapons if need be.

More time passed before he heard noises; he crept closer to where they were coming from. It sounded like a heavy vehicle-perhaps a van-pulling up, along with voices after it parked. Given the gravel on the ground, it was louder than it otherwise would have been. He heard perhaps two men get out and walk over to one of the doors.

Sergei moved over some more, getting close enough to hear voices. They seemed to be speaking English, though he could not work out everything they said. He did feel they had Russian accents-he would know. The men who opened the door did not have them; they sounded American. He didn't know how many there were, or how many were in there; but given the bits he heard, there was indeed an arms deal going down.

He decided after a few moments of thought-after they went inside-to perhaps put a stop to it.

Running inside armed with only a pistol and wearing a flak vest would be suicide most likely; they probably had assault weapons on hand, and while he was extremely fast for a man of his size, he couldn't dodge a volley of automatic fire. So...he would do what he did best.

He walked up to the side of the warehouse, learning against it and lighting a cigarette. He smoked quietly there for a few moments. After a few moments, the muffled sounds from the inside began to quiet down.

While he smoked, he felt his phone vibrate; he had sent the pictures he managed to take over to his superiors who could utilize face-recognition software. Apparently these men were not the highest ranked, but one of them was had some pull. Sergei figured the men with the real pull were somewhere else; likely safer and more lavish. But these lower-level guys were bad news-they were the type who would do almost anything to climb up in the organization-including nasty stuff like kidnapping, murder, and other pleasant things.

He decided he would try to corner and interrogate one or two. It seemed to be the best bet at this moment.

Sergei had kicked out his second cigarette before he heard the voices start to discuss a few things he recognized. He listened closely. Besides drop-off points and meeting points, there was also discussions of assassinations and Interpol. This tripped an internal alarm with him, as one of the very, very few people he could call somewhat of a friend was in Interpol.

He decided the interrogation idea was a sound one. Remembering one of the alleys near the harbor having a desolate looking warehouse near it, he decided that would be the best bet. Quickly kicking his cigarette butts into view, he walked off toward the general area...making no move to conceal his tracks.

Then, he would wait.

–

Lili had fallen asleep for some time; more of a late nap, really. She slept odd hours in the summer.

She wondered what was up with Sergei. She didn't worry about him too badly; after all, she knew what he was capable of. She was more curious onto what the hell everything was about. She wondered if he could even tell her...or if she could do anything to help him.

She liked to return favors, after all.

She looked over at the room's phone and decided she wanted a snack. She had been a bit hungry this night, as she did not get to eat too much during the day. While she was not a particularly heavy eater, she was a young, active woman. She called down, ordering some of her favorites.

It was sort of like having room service on demand. I must remind myself never to give this life up, she thought.

She looked out the window over the city. New York's massive skyscrapers dotted the landscape; still lit up, as most corporate and business headquarters, she knew, could work into the night. Rochefort Enterprises had plenty of night-shift folks, as they had dealings all around the world, and time zones did differ, after all. She felt powerful standing up here, looking down; she was set to inherit a massive company, she could steal off to fighting tournaments anytime she wanted for some amusement, and she would likely have the best bodyguard in the world.

She smirked as she heard the knock at the door. She turned to walk over, absently hoping that Sergei would be in soon.

–

It was close to midnight. Sergei had gone through a couple more cigarettes, and he heard alarmed voices come up. He knew they saw the tracks he had purposefully left behind. He hoped they could come along quietly when they met up. He wanted to give his superiors some good information, as he always tried to do his job to the best of his ability.

He went around a few of the shipping containers and headed toward the collection of buildings on the further west side of the harbor; the air was so dense with humidity that he was thankful he had no breathing problems. He wiped some sweat from his brow and looked up; the cloud cover was intense; no stars at all could be seen. He was lucky there were series of lights around the area, or else he would have had to get around with his night vision equipment only.

Reaching one of the doors, he decided to stand by it, waiting. He wanted them to come to him. He knew there were ways to get through to the alley behind; it was a dead end, but one could go through the buildings.

Two men finally arrived; they seemed startled to see the huge man there. Sergei stood straight, getting a commanding presence and folding his arms when they arrived. The men shrunk back slightly when he did this; he sort of figured they thought they'd be dealing with a straggler, easily bullied or silenced.

"I have questions," he started. As usual, he did not beat around the bush.

The man on the left swallowed hard; for just a moment-he seemed that he was going to comply. But his partner panicked; he tugged his large-bore firearm from his jacket, shakily trying to straighten it. Sergei did not give him the chance-he grabbed his head in both hands, slamming it once into his knee smashing in his nose in a spray of blood, before twisting his head and dropping him. He turned toward the other man; giving him a chance-but he had dug a long knife out of his coat and looked ready to fight.

You had your chance, he thought. Sergei had even given him a chance right after killing the other-normally, in a combat situation, he would have gone right into attacking. He could tell by the look in his eyes this was a man that would not be taken alive.

He dodged two slashes, a third hitting home on his arm, though not too deep; the man managed to smack him in the nose with the butt of the knife, bloodying it. Sergei glared and came in with an elbow to the chest which cracked his sternum; he could tell by the feel and the way he spit blood and gasp for air. He followed with two kicks to the jaw that both shattered it...breaking his neck, too, by the sound as he hit the wall. Blood sprayed wide from that one.

For once, I would have liked to have avoided this...

He heard the others that had gone through-he guessed two or three by the footsteps.

Sergei walked into the alley the men had walked into through the warehouses. The men did not have weapons out, though he suspected that they were concealed. He knew more were around the corner, but he had them separated enough. He figured that perhaps the fate of the first two would make them more willing to negotiate, criminal syndicate or no.

"Come with me," he said.

He had the blood of the first two men spattered on him; no doubt it was running into the gutters in the alley behind him. He knew the other two would be waiting down the other end...which happened to be a dead end.

Indeed, he had planned for it. He only made them think they were ambushing him. He cracked his bloodied knuckles, still unhappy with this turn of events. Sweat dripped down the side of his face; even this late, it was around ninety degrees in the city. The stench of blood and old water in the drainage pipes filled his nostrils...but he had dealt with much worse.

When the men saw Sergei, they realized he was the one in charge..and they realized it far too late. Still, he had to give the men credit they tried.

One of them closed in, fumbling with a pistol; another drew a long knife; a good, penetrating stab could have easily went through his lung, though his tactical vest offered some protection.

Sergei went low, sweeping down the man with the handgun; he landed on his back with a thump, knocking the wind out of him. As the man closed in with the knife, Sergei managed to catch him. He snapped the arm holding the knife like a twig as the man screamed; he followed with a knee to the stomach hard enough for him to spit blood. He then grabbed his face in his huge hand, and holding onto his other shoulder twisted his head around violently, breaking his neck.

He glared down at the man on the ground, who slid backward as he tried to fumble with his pistol before looking up at him with a rather terrified expression. Sergei took two steps-still holding the dead man by the face-before performing a usual coup d' grace against grounded opponents; slamming his giant boot down onto his head with immense strength. It was fast, it was devastatingly effective, and the bloody remains it left behind tended to send a pretty goddamn clear message of what would await anyone should they decide tangling with the White Angel of Death or anyone actually associated with him would be a good idea.

The last man who was hiding in one of the buildings where he had come from originally heard the sickening sound of of partner's skull being smashed in; he quickly decided that maybe this Dragunov guy was bad news and slipped away. No amount of pay was worth getting brained in an alley.

Sergei waited until the corpses' twitching stopped-ensuring he was dead-before he stepped off, dropping the other body. He then began to search them for clues. Blood from the grounded man's shattered skull ran everywhere; he would absolutely have to call in a favor for this one. He reminded himself to turn the corpse over before he left so whoever came in didn't have to look at what was left of the man's face when they first arrived. Not that they'd have any doubt onto what happened given the shape of his skull.

He would take anything of interest before leaving to back to the condo, where he could spend some time with the true reason he took this job.

He wondered what was going on here, though. He had his suspicions.

The military had dealt with a long-broken off mercenary unit; they had formed, Sergei recalled, before he was even twenty. They went by the name of " They had been going now for nearly a decade; a sort of organized crime ring, who, through old ties and knowledge, still managed to occasionally pinch various arms; it was what they mostly dealt with. They had expanded more and more, and they were an Interpol target, even. What they were doing in New York City he did not know-but now that he was here, he knew he would have to deal with them.

He had to deal with them many times over the years. They would occasionally go back more underground, or keep their dealings more out of reach of the Russian military, which mostly left things to Interpol. However, with Sergei stationed over here for now-he could likely let them know

New York City, with a fairly strong corporate presence these days, tended toward a bit different in terms of law than it was previously. One mostly dealt with them rather than small law enforcement. He would indeed tell his superiors to get him some clearance...as well as get this mess taken care of.

Checking his GPS, he planned on laying low somewhere else for awhile in case they tried to follow him; he did not want to endanger Lili or anyone in the Rochefort's household. He figured the worst was over...for this night, anyway. He suspected within an hour or two he could make his way back to the condo.

The rumble of thunder in the distance told him that nature would likely wash away some of the remains in the alley. He sent a message to his contacts before starting to head toward a place where he could lay low without involving Lili. This was something that he did not need to drag her into.

This is my problem.

–

Lili looked up from her book as she read at the table; Sergei, she could tell, had been through some hell this night. She quickly closed the book, standing to walk over to him. She could see he was only lightly wounded, but there were likely several dead men somewhere.

"...What happened?" She skipped right to the point.

He nodded to the shower. "I'll explain after."

"Is it...anything with us?"

He shook his head. "This is my problem. Or our problem."

"I'll make coffee. Vodka?"

He nodded, sparing her a smirk. Sergei was not shaken up by any of this, she knew. He walked off silently to the shower as she set everything up for him. She thought to herself what could have happened.

Did enemies follow him here? His problem he said. Old enemies. Enemies of the Russian military? She knew that New York City, along with other massive cities around the world, naturally, in this day and age, held a vast criminal underworld. She was quite sure she knew a few members of the Yakuza, from a trip to Japan, though neither she nor they said anything, so she wasn't sure.

She heard Sergei come out, down to a clean part of cargos. He tossed some of the other stuff aside; she knew he would clean that himself. He did not want to subject any of her household to cleaning some of his frightfully bloody clothing.

He sat, pouring a fair bit of vodka into his coffee and lighting a cigarette. He touched her under the chin.

"It is a criminal syndicate, formed from old members of the Russian military, and it picks up others from other European branches as well. Arms dealers, mostly. Wanted by Interpol as well. We've fought them before. New York is not unknown for them. Given that we had to deal with them somewhat before this job, I am not surprised this happened, though I hoped it would not."

Lili blinked, wondering if he was using up his words for the week again with this. She had joked to him before about it. "They...probably let you take this job..."

"...Not only for the money. They had a feeling they would be here."

She snorted laughter. "At least we're paying you well."

He smiled at that. "They are difficult. They have been around since before I was twenty. Lots of cells, and cut off one head..."

She nodded. Sipping her own drink-she added a little vodka to hers as well to wind down-she sat back to look over him. "If you need resources..." she smiled.

"I don't want to get you involved. Besides, I can get what I need."

Lili just folded her arms. "It could come in handy."

Sergei smirked. "There could be some...off the record things I can do." He did his duty. He didn't go against his superiors...but he also was not against doing things to do said duty to the best of his ability. It went unspoken among his superiors that this was an aspect they actually liked about him, since it did get things done.

"I'm not asking you to tell me classified info. I'm just offering some of our resources for you to use if it would help you."

"I have a contact in Interpol, as well."

He knows more people than he lets on. "Why am I not surprised?" She laughed. "Of course you do. I imagine it's easier to do...certain things with a few contacts there."

"Just one...but yes. You are correct."

He still speaks quite proper around me, she thought absently. She found it sort of cute.

"Reports tonight?" Lili asked.

Sergei nodded. "I also think..."

She nodded. "Best to probably keep up appearances." Sergei had several places he could stay on the multiple floors. Sometimes he stayed closer than others. It was good, they felt, for him to not spend all of his time too close to her, just in case.

"Tomorrow, then." He stood. He leaned in to kiss her. It was quite deep...and they found it lasted a long time. After a harsh day, Sergei found he would look forward to this.

Lili, even after two years, still never thought she would be in the arms of someone who about three hours before likely killed several men, but there she was.

For needing to send reports, Sergei certainly took his time getting back to his quarters.

Not that she ever minded.


	33. Chapter 33

"So...even you can't resist the smells, can you?" Lili chuckled.

Sergei shrugged, smirking.

It was quite early, Lili wanting to relax in a somewhat awakened state in the morning before she left for the office, so she decided to not sleep in too long. She had ordered breakfast, and after one of the butlers rolled in the large tray-no doubt for more than one person, as they knew her bodyguard was often close by-Sergei quickly arrived.

Well, what do you expect? He's huge. He eats for three of you practically.

For all of his stoic and frightening nature, Sergei could not resist a giant breakfast these days. He grew quite accustomed to these after his time at the Rocheforts' manor. Usually living a life where his food was from the mess hall, some form of field rations, things he hunted himself cooked over a fire, or the occasional thing he'd make for himself-usually fairly simple and traditional-this was a thing he grew to appreciate. It wasn't that military food wasn't filling-quite the opposite, it had to be. But it was generally bland and utilitarian.

He sat down at the table, bringing out a few of his things to look over. Lili noticed he still kept a lot of his information in traditional ways; notebooks and the like. You can't hack them, after all. He of course used technology and a lot of it, but he was always prepared with a backup.

"With my father this afternoon?" she asked.

"Not today."

She smiled at that. It's about time. We've both been somewhat busy.

With the recent situation of the criminal syndicate rearing it's head, Sergei ended up pulling double time. He did it without complaint, though.

"We haven't gone to the range in awhile."

"We can do that." He thought she should get to go more often than she did; a firearm was something you needed to keep fairly sharp with. He knew she got her regular training in easily, but she had to keep her shooting practice quite under the radar.

She stood, touching him under the chin, much as he often did to her. "I'll see you in the afternoon, then." She had half a day; her typical weekly schedule were two full-time days, and three half-days. She usually used the other half of one of these days to do some paperwork and other things for the internship; after that, she was free. She couldn't believe in another three or so years she would have the degree...and probably the company by her mid to late twenties.

He smirked at her, hoping this day would allow him to do a few things that he wanted.

–

There was a soft snoring coming from the downstairs couch as Lili walked in that afternoon, glad to be in out of the heat. She walked down quietly, having an idea what-or who-it was.

Sergei was on the couch, one arm behind his head. He was not even undressed; he even still had his boots on. Lili figured he must have been tired indeed; Sergei rarely napped during the day. She actually wondered if he slept at all the night before, or how much he did.

She figured she'd let him sleep for awhile, but she felt like hanging out down there, at least. She quietly dropped her things back upstairs, and then grabbed her laptop-the keys were silent so she didn't worry-and lay down on the bed. She smiled at the fact he decided the couch was more interesting to nap on apparently.

After a bit of time, she heard him stir once or twice, but he stayed asleep. When she took another look...she noticed something else happening with him...namely, below the waist. She grinned.

Wonder if he's having a dream of sorts...

She wondered if he even had dreams. She figured of course he did-he was human like anyone else. No matter how brutal he could be, no matter if he went through strange testing from the military-he was born of two people like anyone else. Perhaps he didn't remember them...she didn't know.

But that was something for another time. She tried to go back to what she was doing...but she was distracted. There was something she just had to know.

She wondered just how he would react to a certain...act...if he was woken up by it.

She chuckled to herself as she slid off the bed.

Am I actually considering this? She was surprising even herself. She had instigated sex with him plenty of times, but never like this. Sure, they were spontaneous at times, and he had surprised her with oral sex more than once; never while she was asleep, but out of nowhere. She remembered how good it always felt.

He wouldn't mind. I know he wouldn't.

Lili, using what stealth skills she had-she had a very light step to her that admittedly impressed even Sergei sometimes, as he had noticed the times she had snuck around the manor-slid over to the couch, sitting next to it...at just around Sergei's waist. He did not stir; so far, so good. She silently giggled, wondered what the hell had come over her at this moment.

She gave things some time. She knew if she woke him up it wouldn't matter at all, but this was something she simply wanted to try.

She gently slid her light hand over, deftly undoing all of the buttons first. He was not wearing a belt; he usually didn't around the house. She decided to do them all at once, quickly. Chuckling to herself, he stirred a moment but then exhaled; he was quite out of it.

Sadly, he was not 'going commando' as he normally did around the house with her; he had been out already, after all. He had just stripped his shirt off, but had left the rest of his clothing-sans his belt-on. She had to gently release his member-which was incredibly hard at the moment-from his underwear, which were more of the fitted style. He had to keep himself well-adjusted for battle, after all.

That was easier than I thought it would be, she thought. He was still sleeping. Not waiting to be undone, she began to stroke it gently as he started to moan in his sleep; she then took the tip in her mouth and lightly began to tease it with her lips and tongue.

He stirred, moaning out as he pushed himself up somewhat, his eyes heavy. He looked down, sucking in his breath for a moment...and seeing Lili. She looked up at him a second before taking him deep, focusing fully on pleasuring him now.

She smiled to herself as she felt him chuckle and grab her hair. He moaned low; he was still not loud, even through this...but she noticed that he was moaning a bit more often this time around. She sort of hoped her little surprise had something to do with that.

She tasted a bit of saltiness on her tongue already; judging by how hard he was when she started she knew it wouldn't take long-and she didn't even need it to. She just wanted to surprise him with a bit of pleasure...she felt he deserved it and she liked doing it anyway. Her hand traced his muscular stomach and down the huge legs that she loved. She repositioned slightly to tease him a little underneath with flicks of her tongue; he let out a louder, short grunt at that. His hand gently ran through her hair as she worked.

Sergei quite enjoyed his little surprise here; he couldn't lie to himself. Later on he would be quite impressed with how quiet she managed to stay. He leaned his head back and allowed her to work; the tiny smile he could see on her face made it even better for him.

She sucked harder, teasing him with her finger from behind; this caused him to grunt a bit harder. It amused her that whenever she would do this it would seemingly take him by surprise. She didn't do it often...but when she did, his reaction always made her happy.

Feeling him tense, she knew he would come; she sucked faster, flicking her tongue right on the tip as she knew he loved until he rubbed her shoulder a bit more roughly as he came with a low moan. She sucked and swallowed, continuing on until she knew he was completely finished.

She pulled back, licking her lips. She smiled up at him as she sat back, raising her eyebrows.

He looked over at her as he repositioned on the couch, chuckling softly. He touched under her chin.

"You were quiet," was all he could think to say.

She laughed. "You taught me well."

He sat up, pushing back some of her hair as he kissed her deeply. He felt incredibly good, as her little surprise felt rather incredible. He had been a bit concerned with everything that had been going on, but she managed to take care of that feeling rather well. Sergei did not stress about things, he simply had a lot on his plate that had kept his mind busy at night.

"I'll be back," he said. He was clearly going to clean up.

It didn't take him too long; Lili was sitting down to a snack she had called downstairs for-after cleaning up any potential 'issues' from the couch area. They were not on the same floor that the servants brought the food, so things were fine; however Lili never took chances. It was still something she would love to not have to explain anytime soon.

"About the range..." he started.

"I thought you'd never ask." She smiled, finishing her snack.

Sergei watched her get ready, feeling just a little more content than he had in awhile.

–

The range they had found was quite far away; as usual they sort of wanted to keep her shooting undercover. They simply paid for one of the more expensive taxi services instead of the limo. It was of no matter to Lili, though she did favor the limo a bit more.

Sergei stood back as he always did, watching her finish off the last clip of the day; she had gotten much better. She had even practiced with one of the longarms today, though it was only a .22. She was not too into the heavy caliber guns yet.

She smirked, breaking the gun down as he taught her before; she forgot a couple of things which he reminded her about. They had spent perhaps an hour there. While she packed, Sergei received a phone call. He nodded to her, saying he had to take it. He stepped outside and simply waited for her to follow him out.

Wonder what it is, Lili thought. Hope it's nothing too serious right now.

He had finished by the time she got out; the range was downstairs and through several security checks; they were very tight since they had some rather large and impressive guns down there. Sergei had fired some of them, she reckoned for fun. She looked up at him questioningly.

"Lars," he said.

"Oh! How is he?"

"Fine. He has an ear to the ground over in Europe for me."

"Called in a favor again?"

He nodded, chuckling. "At this rate I will owe him soon."

"You can't be in three places at once, as amazing as you are."

He smiled gently at that. She coughed, forgetting that they were standing in public, though no one was around to have heard that. I forget myself from time to time. I can't treat this as a relationship. Especially not in public.

"I also left word for my Interpol contact to get in touch when he can. I imagine he's on a job, though."

"Who is it?"

"Can't say yet. Just in case."

"I understand." Lili was used to getting her way in many things, but she knew when it came to some of his operations that it was a different story, and she never tried to press the matter. "Food, and then back home? I need to do a few things on my laptop. I wouldn't mind working from a cafe today." She got a bit of the "Rich girl ordering her bodyguard around" feel to her at this moment. Maybe to keep up appearances.

He nodded, calling the expensive taxi service for her and everything. Luckily he was not forced to talk too much, as most of it was done through automation this day and age.

The wonders of technology, she thought with a chuckle as she checked her watch. She figured it would not take her too long to finish, then she had the rest of the evening at home.

It seems that I call anywhere 'home' these days.

–

The evening seemed to be shaping up to be fairly calm. She had a good day, all told. Sergei looked fairly content, as well. He was finishing a glass of whiskey-a little different than his usual vodka-and looking through a book he had brought in. He watched her walk by, looking her up and down and thinking about what she did for him today...and he smiled.

He decided to return the favor.

He came up to her from behind, kissing her neck several times before nipping at it. Lili shook at this after a pleasured yelp; he continued to kiss her, slowly, allowing his tongue to stroke her skin slightly. He picked her up, bringing her over to the bed to lay her down; he quickly undid her short skirt and tugged away her underwear. He nuzzled her stomach a few moments before crouching down, his hand running up and down her side.

Lili giggled, unable to stop. Well this was sudden...

Sergei kissed her stomach from his position; Lili squealed, knowing what he was going for. He looked up at her, giving her that somewhat teasing look he would get...it almost was asking her if she thought he wasn't going to try to return the favor from this afternoon.

He traced his tongue slowly down to her mound, taking his time there to tease it for awhile; this time, he teased it a little longer than what he usually would. For just a few seconds he opened her gently with his thumb, allowing the tip of his tongue to trace around her folds and even her clit for a few moments before he pulled back to kiss above her again.

Lili groaned; he was being such a tease right now, though she supposed she deserved it for waking him up today. She was smiling, though-and when she looked down at him, so was he.

Sergei decided to stop with the incessant teasing for now; he settled between her legs, kneeling off the bed to give himself better access, and after lightly stroking her center with his tongue for awhile he pressed close to her, opening his mouth to begin pleasuring her in earnest. She gasped out, her legs giving him a little squeeze.

It was clear that he wasn't trying to rush, though he more or less just wanted to pleasure her for a little while before she had to do whatever it was she had to do; Sergei did have things he had to do tonight as well, but they had only been back in each others' company for two weeks now...and of course, not all of the time. For one, they had their own duties, two, they did have to hide it, and three-they did like their own space, as well.

But they had been a bit wanting for each other this time, so they indulged when they could.

Lili held onto the back of his head as she thrust her hips; she heard his breathing grow slightly heavier as he continued to lick all around her. He held her thighs, massaging them. She loved how his huge hands felt on her; he was rough enough that it just turned her on more, but he always knew how far to go.

Swallowing what had come from her so far-she was very wet-he continued to suck at her clit, sometimes rubbing the tip of his tongue against it until she would squirm. He pulled back for a few just to tease her a little more with light strokes before he finished; his mouth was wet already, which pleased him-it made him see just how much he turned her on tonight.

He would have to force some heavy self-control after this, as they didn't have much more time. He didn't like to stop early on her-if their time was limited and it was either this or a quick session of sex with no foreplay...he took going down on her every time.

Thrusting his tongue inside of her for some more moments before sucking quickly at her again, she came with a loud gasp, her body shuddering. She bit her lip as she finished; no matter how many times he did this to her, it always felt more than wonderful.

As usual, he didn't pull away until she was finished and he had licked at her a bit more; even then he didn't leave. He stayed there, his head on her thigh, as one hand slid underneath and the other stroked her firm stomach. He had pushed his way onto the bed a bit more to lay with her.

She looked down at him; she looked extremely satisfied, and enjoyed how he looked awfully content as well-though he always did after this.

"Was this for interrupting your nap?" she chuckled.

He looked up at her, kissing her thigh. He just shrugged.

Stay as long as you want, Sergei, she thought as she stroked his soft hair while he nuzzled a bit at her thigh some more before leaning against it.

We never know when you have to leave again.


	34. Chapter 34

Sergei's phone went off very early; earlier than it usually would.

He was sharing her bed this night; it had been two days since their last time together, and they decided that-since he had been sleeping in his own quarters more often than not-he'd steal away there. No one was the wiser, as usual.

He picked up the phone, answering in Russian; it was clearly from headquarters. He didn't bother leaving; Lili only understood a bit these days, though she took it as one of her languages. When he spoke technical or military details, she didn't quite pick it up yet. She understood bits, but she knew Sergei trusted her anyway, even if she had been fluent.

It was his enemies he didn't trust, but he still stayed. She watched him walk about naked; he did not seem to even think about it as he discussed whatever tactics he was.

She looked outside; it was light, though still cloudy. She remembered there would be storms today again. So far, it seemed they had them every couple of days, and she could already hear how ferocious the wind grew. She almost wanted to step out on the balcony, but she was naked and the wind might not treat her bathrobe very well. Having to explain why the two of them were in her apartment naked-if someone saw-wouldn't be something she would want to do before she had a whole lot of coffee in her.

She rolled out of bed, not bothering getting her bathrobe yet. She stood looking out a window with her arms resting on it; there was no one who could see in at all, so she didn't much care.

Sergei hung up the phone and walked over to her. She looked up at him.

"Headquarters?" she asked.

"My contact who helped clean up the mess from the other night."

She chuckled, imagining what sort of job that poor guy had. "What did he want?"

"He examined some of the things I found on them. They were planning a rather large exchange with some people here...though we don't know exactly who they were. There was no information on them about that."

Lili thought for a moment. "Probably because they didn't want to be found if something went wrong."

Sergei smiled. "You're perceptive. Yes. I'd imagine that was so."

"They must not have trusted them much."

"No honor among thieves," he replied, snorting.

Lili knew what he meant; organized crime would work with other shady individuals to pragmatic ends-buying, selling, or whatnot-but they didn't trust each other. By the sound, the criminal organization here did not particularly trust a bunch of arms-thieving mercenaries.

"You knew the soldiers?"

He shook his head. "I may have seen one or two of the original, but they broke off when I was getting sent to the front lines. They pull from any military, though."

"So...they basically tempt them. From anywhere."

"Exactly. There's a lot of money in arms running. They entice a few-usually younger or more questionable of character. They smuggle out some arms, go AWOL, and before they know it are part of the syndicate. There are a few probably still hidden in the ranks."

"And not just in Russia."

"No, this is all around. We don't expect to defeat the whole thing. It is not in our path. We just deal with ones who are directly involved with us...which this group is."

Lili always loved these longer discussions with him. She knew they didn't happen too often-but she was fine with that. She took them when they came. "So you...need to work on this, too?"

He nodded, giving her a smirk. "I've done more than this at one time."

"Remember what I said."

"I will. We will see. Soon I need to contact the man I know in Interpol."

"Is he here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know." He looked around, going to lay back in the bed, throwing the covers over his legs. Lili went to join him. "I haven't spoken to him in awhile. But we will see if we need to meet up. He's had his hands tied up with them for awhile. It's more Interpol's job than ours."

"You're kept busy," she said.

He nodded and shrugged. He played with a bit of hair on top of her head. She nuzzled into his hand...looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Did you ever expect anything like this?"

He smirked. "Never."

"That first night..." she started. She was wondering if she could get him to spill a bit more now that he was talkative. "What...came over you?" It had taken her by surprise-their first kiss had almost led to something, she knew...and the next week, it did. He spent an exceedingly long time giving her oral sex; the two ran on an instinct they had never even explored.

Sergei shrugged, but he was smiling slightly. "I...just wanted to."

Lili smiled. She saw him lean forward to kiss her; he did so deeply, his tongue beginning to probe around slowly. She moaned; he was incredibly intense in his actions at the moment. It was almost like he was thinking back to that first night.

She was sometimes surprised with how intense and passionate he could be when he wanted to. He was always caring toward her-but there were times that he acted with a certain...extra something toward her-something she could not describe-that actually took her off guard. Almost like he was grateful that his life turned out the way it did at that moment.

Half of his life had been brutal and violent, and the other half distant and sullen. The past year and a half had been something completely different. Oh, it was still brutal and violent...but now he had another aspect; one he was quite glad to let in. He would never be like 'other men' in a relationship...but that was exactly what she wanted.

It was a case of being very different-but rather fitting for one another.

It helped Lili with her own self-control, in any case. Naturally she had gotten used to getting what she wanted; her father did spoil her. Given he raised her alone most of her life-well, with Sebastian and the other servants, but still-he doted on her. And she could get spoiled. But she knew with this, she couldn't control the situation. The entire thing helped her temper that spoiled aspect...and as a result, it didn't show up so much these days. Her family had noticed, but simply thought it was a result of her growing up.

They would both be quite happy to make sure it stayed that way, as well.

Sergei pulled back from his deep, rather slow kisses with a questioning look. He smirked.

She smiled. "Morning?"

He leaned forward to run his tongue up her neck, nipping at the soft skin a bit before pulling back in answer.

He leaned in for another kiss; she was pleasantly surprised at this little change in course. They hadn't done anything in the morning in a very long time; usually it was a bit too risky, or they were far too busy to consider it. Things were a little more clear now; different schedules, different setup, and he was expected to be somewhere in her area more often. She was not complaining about this.

If someone were to look in on the outside on the times they were together, Lili mused how they would likely think they were a couple of sex maniacs; it wasn't that at all, though. It was that they had so little time together all told-at most they had a few months, but it could be as short as a few weeks-they wanted to take as much advantage of this as possible in terms of physical contact.

He pulled back slowly, Lili letting go of his tongue only reluctantly. He went back forward to suck at her lower lip; something he enjoyed doing and she enjoyed having done. Who was she kidding-she enjoyed anything physical with him. They had experimented a lot over their time and they had yet to find something that they didn't enjoy. They may have enjoyed some things more than others, but they found themselves rather open and adaptable. To be fair-they never went too crazy. They simply weren't that type.

Lili settled back as she felt him kiss her stomach; she thought he would take his time, but it seemed that in just a few short moments he was licking between her legs. She squealed at the suddenness of it, though was in no way disappointed. If anything it gave it a little bit of an extra feeling of...something...when she didn't see it coming.

It was so sudden, in fact, that it only took a few minutes for him to get her off; though she could tell he was sort of striving more quickly for it. He teased her a little-brushing his tongue down to her opening for a few moments in between swirling it around her clit-but he was apparently quite into the idea of getting her off at this moment.

She came soon after; she wrapped her legs around him a bit to hold his head there as he finished licking her, pausing to kiss her thighs a few times before sitting up, a smirk on his face.

She sat up a moment to tease the tip of his member before preparing him to slide inside of her. She leaned back, wanting him on top this time; he supported himself over her easily as she slid her arms around him. He nipped at her as he liked to do, and it seemed to only take several thrusts before he came; it was to be expected. It was morning, he woke up hard, had looked at her naked, and then just got finished one of his favorite sexual activities with her; it was impressive that he held on as long as he did. Lili always liked the low moan that would escape his lips as he came. It was almost like a growl, and it was incredibly hot to her.

He sat up, pulling out and looking down at her.

"In the mood?" she smiled up at him, a content look on his face.

"Yes," he answered, not bothering to mince words. He rarely did.

She chuckled. She sort of hoped he'd be in the mood for these morning quickies more often in the future.

Sergei licked his lips, still faintly tasting her and smirking a bit at that. "I need to get ready."

"Same. See you later, then?" She stood as they slid their arms around each other. A feeling developed in the pit of her stomach at this. Naked standing there in the room, the central air running, and a pleasant ache in her midsection from their recent activities gave her a rather overwhelming feeling of comfort. When he held her like this from time to time, it gave her an extra feeling; a deeper one. She knew that he did not do this easily...and it meant a lot.

They separated, Sergei leaning in to kiss her once. He silently touched her cheek with his fingers before turning to go down the stairs to get ready.

Sometimes for her it, was he didn't say that told her everything.


	35. Chapter 35

After her rather easy day, Lili began to head out to her limo; she was debating whether or not to go to a cafe or back to her home. She pulled out her umbrella, trying to prevent it from blowing in the sharp wind; it was very warm out still, but the weather was stormy and getting worse by the second. There were rumors of a hurricane-something she didn't often have to deal with usually in her own home, but she hadn't been to the east coast in a long time. Well, visiting for a few days, but not for any length of time.

She knew she was safe where she was, but it was still quite bleak outside.

Sergei was in the limo already. He had some work to do where her father was this day apparently, though she wasn't quite sure what was going on there. He did not look particularly concerned, angry...or anything, but this was normal for him. He nodded to her, keeping his form as always when they were in public. He shifted to give her more room; she always found it amusing how he was a bit cramped in the limo. It was roomy, yes, but his larger-than-average size and huge limbs made things a little difficult for him. He didn't seem to care, though she could tell he took it with humor.

She stared out the window, looking up. She then checked the weather on her phone.

"Bad storms coming. Very bad, apparently."

He nodded. "Strong winds. We'll be fine where we are. I suspect this will...interrupt things. Especially with the sea."

She knew what he was talking about; the crime ring would likely not be moving around weapons during near hurricane-force winds and thunder. "Any other news?"

"Not yet...but I suspect soon I will be getting a call."

They didn't speak any more of it for now, as to not alarm anyone...though the small barrier that raised and lowered in between the front of the limo and the back was soundproof, mostly for on-the-road business meetings. It came in handy, but they decided to play it safe.

Lili watched the trees bending; some of them were dangerously low. Umbrellas were being turned inside out, and people were quickly hailing cabs and trying to get down into the subway. The clouds were quite dark that were rolling in, meaning the massive rain would be starting. It was still very warm out, though the wind cooled things down somewhat. She looked back at Sergei.

"I hope we get home soon." The traffic was starting to grow a bit hectic.

He nodded.

The rode the rest of the way in silence, though it was their usual, comfortable silence. Lili looked out the window at the rain that started to fall; it was not too bad yet. They were about five minutes away from their building. Sergei fiddled with his phone a few times, finally leaning his head back to relax a few moments. He looked at peace, which she liked. She knew that he didn't get very much of it.

Her eyes wandered to his torso; in his tank top, she saw how many more scars he had gotten helping her and her family. There were quite a few. She remained luckier. She took hits, of course-she has had bloody noses, bloody lips...she suspected that maybe on the inside of her mouth she had a couple small ones but they were nearly impossible to see. Her arm still held the scars from the assassin she defeated. She suspected she knew what happened to her when she left Lars up to her fate, but she didn't think too hard about it. It was life or death, after all. The mess with the mole seemed like it was so far behind her that it could have been five years instead of eight months.

She felt Sergei touch her; they were just about at the building now, a block away. The rain had picked up, but they had a parking garage so it was no matter. She looked at the arm that had the bullet hole in it and remembered when he got that one; he didn't even think about them.

"Coffee," she said, yawning. "This weather makes me tired." The limo darkened as they pulled inside of the garage and went up several floors.

He smirked, shifting his huge body in the seat to open the door after they parked. She smiled at him as she got out; Alain, her loyal chauffeur, never even noticed.

I have to stop being so risky with this. I give him eyes a bit too often...

–

Wow, they weren't kidding. This one is bad.

The two of them stared out the window as they waited for Sebastian to bring them dinner. Her father was dining with some colleagues this night, and would likely be at the hotel; it was now raining so hard that it seemed there started to be an inch or two of water on the street. She knew the limo would be fine, but she didn't think any of them would want to go out in this.

Sergei had his arms folded as he looked out; his hair was pulled back in its usual fashion, and he still wore his tight, gray tank top. He was fully clothed, to be sure; they both were. There was a lot of milling about right now, and given they had spent a couple of riskier days together they decided to take this easy. As per command, he was to stay nearby her. Dining together was no issue; they expected it.

"I wonder if places will close," she said. It was practically raining sideways.

"Perhaps."

"Have you ever had missions in weather like this?"

He chuckled. "Only colder."

She shivered at that. As warm as the air was, the wind and the rain cooled things down considerably and gave her chills when she was outside. She was sure he did it without a word of complaint, though probably cursed to himself.

"Nothing much to do," she said stretching.

He smirked at her. She grinned.

Well, none of the servants are due to arrive for awhile...

Lili jumped at the crazed whistling sound outside; she went to peek out the window. It was even worse than before, the wind picking up even more. She stepped out to the closed balcony and the wind sounded like it was literally alive; screaming through the small holes in the thick plexiglass. She didn't open the windows out of fear they would be ripped off the hinges.

There were still cars around; how, she didn't know. They must have been large ones able to handle the water all around. The city wasn't flooded, per se; it did have good drainage, but it could not have been nice.

The darkness made it look even creepier outside; the thick clouds blocking out any potential moon or starlight made it feel downright foreboding on the balcony, even though she knew it was safe and secure inside.

She heard footsteps coming up the stairs when she walked in, closing the door. Sergei was there...and he seemed to be holding his long, army green waxed coat; his rain jacket. He had his combat boots on, as well; as if he was about to go out.

Lili blinked. "Feel like taking a natural shower today?"

He smirked. "I have to meet someone."

"Is it the person you know about the..." she trailed off.

Sergei nodded. "He contacted me."

"This late? In this weather?"

"He's quite busy."

Lili smirked a moment, folding her arms. "Is this classified?"

"Technically, no. I am talking to outside help." He raised an eyebrow. "Are..."

"Am I sure? Well, I did say I'd help with resources if you needed." She chuckled. "Besides, you should stick with me."

He smirked back at her. "I suppose I should."

"Can you drive in this?"

He nodded. He had driven in much worse.

"The jeep, I take it?"

"Yes."

Lili smiled, feeling like she was going on a little adventure. Truth be told, she sort of started to like the adventure stuff. While she was glad to be done with corporate intrigue and threats on her family's life-which she expected might come up again at some point-she was sort of starting to almost miss having a bit of excitement in her life. Ever since the craziness of nine months ago, life had been pretty normal.

She promised herself to be careful, though...and not to get too curious.

"I'll get my coat." She went to the other room and selected one of her more casual looking rain jackets. She dressed comfortably; jeans, her more water-repellent boots, and a tight, sleeveless shirt. She did not get overly showy with her body, but did enjoy to show it off a little...and she knew Sergei appreciated it. She liked the look he would get on his face.

He smiled at her as she walked out. She paused to give him a light kiss on the mouth before she opened the door. He returned it, adding a little nip to her lower lip...almost telling her there might be more later tonight.

They went quietly down to the garage to where he kept his large jeep. She had ridden in it many times; she sort of liked it. He was a good driver, and the thing was pretty comfortable, though some of the bumpiest roads could get a little jarring. It likely wouldn't have that problem here-it was the water they had to drive through.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she climbed in, settling back after adjusting the seat.

"A bar on the Lower East Side it says." He proceeded to punch in the coordinates.

Lili blinked. "A dive?" She wrinkled her nose. She hadn't been to a place like that in...well...forever? Had she ever been in a legitimate dive bar?

He chuckled. "It's better to stay out of the way. It's a regular place for him."

"So...is this the...guy from Interpol?"

He nodded. "You've probably seen him in the tournament."

"Hmm...wait...it's..." She remembered a cop. Handsome fellow, rather calm. She never talked to him though. "I guess I'll find out."

Sergei started the jeep, shifting it into gear and switching the lights on. "You'll remember."

They drove through the large parking lot, going slowly down the spiral driveway that connected the floors. Lili reckoned they were several up; there were a lot of cars. These places somehow always gave her the creeps at night; and the sound of the wind that blew through the open slots in the concrete walls made it even moreso.

When they pulled out into the street, she could feel the resistance of the vehicle against the water, but Sergei switched the all-wheel-drive into play and they were just fine. The wipers worked furiously to keep the torrential downpour off the windshield, and she felt bad for the smaller cars out there. They were up high enough that no water got in, though to be fair it was only a couple of inches deep at worst. It was still surprising, though.

Some smaller trees had been uprooted; the larger ones were bending, though being in the city, trees were fairly sparse, save the parks. She shuddered to think what they would look like after this.

She snorted laughter. "Your contact should have picked better weather. What is it with your contacts wanting us to go out in terrible weather?" She remembered Lars taking them to the snowy place.

"You could have stayed home," he smirked at her.

She gave him a glare-not angry at all-and went back to looking out the window, her own little smile on her face.

He leaned over after awhile and turned on some music; it was kept low so they could chat if necessary. Lili blinked at the driving industrial-style music that came from the speakers. She was very broad in her tastes and did like the music...but she was surprised Sergei did.

"You listen to this?"

He nodded. "Depends on my mood."

She sat back, smiling. She liked it, and she liked finding out yet more things about him. They still learned about each other, even after a year and a half...a bit more, now.

It took awhile to reach the dive bar, as the weather was not helping matters. Sergei drove carefully; they were more worried about other drivers, really...even if the practically armored jeep would have won any vehicle fights with a normal car. They didn't want to hurt anyone.

They parked out back, and braced themselves to make a run for it. Their boots were thankfully waterproof, though Lili suspected her pant legs might get a bit soggy.

I'll ask again, why do Sergei's contacts meet at the most out of the way places...

They made it rather easily, but they got a little wet even though they were completely covered in their raincoats. They had only been exposed to the rain for literal seconds. Lili actually felt bad for anyone stuck in it.

The bar itself was on the second floor, to reach it one would go up a narrow set of stairs. It wasn't the worst place, to be fair; it was more out of the way, sort of dark and dingy...but it wasn't infested with trouble. If anything, it seemed quiet...no small wonder given the conditions outside. Lili was surprised to see even a couple of other people and wondered why they didn't close.

The bartender-a middle aged man with a mustache-smiled at them and chuckled. He looked Sergei up and down, nodding.

"You must be..."

Sergei nodded in silence.

"He's in the back. There are drinks back there."

Lili blinked. "You're still open?"

The bartender laughed. "I've got a tiny car. I'm not driving home in this. I can sleep in the back room if need be."

The bar itself had no windows; it was sort of located in the middle of the building. She had no idea what other sorts of places were in this building-apartments, storage rooms...she had no idea. It wasn't exactly her type of establishment. Sergei looked down at her, seeing her expression. It was not one of disgust or anything; it was simply amused.

He smirked. "It's not so bad. The coffee is strong, I hear."

"I'll need it."

They walked to the back, past one fellow who was eating some sort of dish of something...bar cuisine, by the look. There was a large booth with a man sitting at it; and he was indeed very familiar. Lili snapped her fingers absently as the name came to her.

Lei. Lei Wulong. That was him. I had seen him around...he was a cop, I know...Sergei...how?

Lei looked up at the sound, smiling. Lili had to say he was a handsome man; long, black hair tied back loosely, clean shaven face, and looked no older than thirty on a bad day. She knew he had to be close to fifty, though-he had taken part in the second King of Iron Fist tournament.

He was dressed casually, in a long-sleeve cotton shirt, a leather jacket worn open, a pair of jeans and black sneakers. Despite it being summer, the storm had blown in such a wind that it felt much cooler than it should have been. His raincoat was hanging on a hook off to the side, and he had a holster under his arm with his service weapon. Lili could not tell the make from this angle, though Sergei had taught her about many types of handguns.

In front of him sat a cup of coffee and a plate of some sort of pie.

"Sergei," he said.

Sergei smirked. "Pleasure."

"You brought a friend?"

"My charge."

"You're the Rochefort lady." He stood, bowing politely in greeting. She knew he was Chinese, but he did not have much of an accent at all when he spoke. Must be from working internationally for so long.

Lady. I'm no longer the Rochefort girl. This somehow amused her-and puffed her up a bit. She was almost twenty now, after all.

"Yes." She smiled. "He said this wasn't terribly secret. Since he's my bodyguard..."

"I understand. He told me you know some things. It's probably for the best."

The two sat down around the table, one of the waiters-a tired looking middle aged man who looked like he wanted to go home but probably couldn't at the moment-took orders for coffee and whatever else they wanted. Lili hadn't eaten food from a bar like this in ages. She wondered if she ever had, truth be told.

Sergei lit a cigarette, blowing out a stream of smoke. "What do you know?" he began.

Lei knew Sergei was never one to waste time. "Not much yet, truth be told." He sipped his coffee. "We thought they might be Mafia related at first, but the signs aren't pointing there. We aren't ruling it out...but for now that trail is a bit cold."

"The men I faced seemed...ordinary, truth be told. Hired thugs, at best."

Lei looked thoughtful. "They could be going through other outlets."

Lili just listened in, nodding to the man who brought the coffee and food. The appetizers looked fairly good, so she had gotten a mixed plate of them. Sergei took his own coffee and food.

Mozzarella sticks may have been a little low class, but she did find them tasty. Maybe I ought to enjoy some of this sort of stuff every now and then.

Sergei took a drag of his cigarette and stubbed it out before moving his plate in front of him. He looked deep in thought. "Do you think they're connected with the Zaibatsu? Or the G-Corporation?"

"Hard to say. I don't doubt they've dealt with them both before in the past-they deal with anyone, after all."

"While I cannot give all of the information..." Sergei started. "We seem to think that this particular incident involves larger scale arms. Much more dangerous."

Lei nodded. "We suspected as much. I'm guessing that's why you guys were on it. Can you say...what went missing?"

Sergei nodded once. "Heavier arms. It was enough for my superiors to get in touch with me here, when I am out on another paid job." He took a drink of coffee and a bite of the greasy bar food. He was enjoying it, truth be told; he enjoyed the fine cuisine he ate at the manor, but now and then he was happy to have something a bit more low key.

"That worries me."

Lili looked up. "You don't think they have technology to do anything really bad, do you?"

"Well, it's not them we're worried about. All they do is deal with the arms."

She nodded slowly. "It's who they deal with. You don't know who they are or what they're up to."

"Exactly," Lei smirked. "I understand you are no stranger to things like this."

"I sort of wish I still was. But...it's not so bad."

Sergei smiled at her. "I wouldn't worry." He did, of course, get concerned sometimes...but it was natural, given his situation. She still worried about him from time to time, after all.

She drank more coffee. It was pretty good, given where they were at. She pulled her light shirt around herself, listening to the sheets of rain hit the side of the building. It was muffled from where they were, but it really did give the place an eerie feel to it. "Don't you have undercover people?"

"We do. We haven't gone that far, yet." Lei sighed. "We may have to. It's always dangerous, undercover in organized crime. What they do to people they catch..."

Lili shuddered. She could imagine.

"Granted, it's rare. Still...not something we do without good reason." He sipped more coffee, waving the waiter over for some more. "This might be good reason, though."

Sergei looked deeper in thought. Lili blinked...knowing what he was thinking, or at least having a good idea of it.

"You aren't..."

He smirked.

Lei blinked. "No offense meant here, Sergei...but you look a bit...obvious."

Lili chuckled. "I was going to say the same thing." It wasn't that she was super worried about him; there was a little concern, of course...if they tried to do the same stuff they did to the others they caught, she knew Sergei would smash their heads in.

"They deal with former members of our military. If anything, this will be beneficial to us both." He drank his coffee-which the waiter had refilled-smoking another cigarette.

"I think I know what you're saying, now." Lei thought.

"I would contact my superiors about it."

Lili suddenly found herself getting a bit...excited. After the mess the mole almost made of their lives, she thought she'd have been happy to never see anything like that again...but this was different.

Did I actually start liking this adventurous stuff? I really shouldn't get involved...

She startled at the sound of the rain hitting the building. It sounded like they were next to a waterfall...and there was a room between them and the outside.

"I...think we ought to stick around her for awhile more." she chuckled. "I like being dry."

Sergei smirked. "I don't mind."

Lei laughed. "My car is probably going to need to be dried out tomorrow...if the rain lets up, that is."

"If I can ask..." Lili started. "How do you two..."

"Sergei here helped me out during the big mess a few years ago." Lei sipped his coffee. "He helped me a lot."

He nodded silently. "We don't see very often, but we give a hand when needed."

Lili smiled. She was surprised how comfortable she felt here; the three chatted a bit more, though nothing much more on the job. Sergei's more helpful than he puts on...though it seems only to be to people who he 'takes' to. There doesn't seem to be too many of them.

I'm glad I'm one of them.


	36. Chapter 36

Holiday Party Fenris30

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Summary:

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Synopsis: Mr. Rochefort is hosting a large company Christmas party; it takes up the ritziest hotel in New York as they visit. Lili, naturally, is there helping out, but she begins to want to get away for just a little while. Usually worried for his daughter, her father insists Sergei-her trusted 'bodyguard' go with her...

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Notes:

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WELL...since I did a Halloween story, I decided to do an xmas piece too. It's a one-shot, but this one I may actually think slots into the main series! It takes place a little later in the 2nd arc(it's summer in the current story arc, but it'll stretch for awhile; however, don't worry, there are NO SPOILERS here at all for later things.)

Anyway, as usual, hope you enjoy! This one was done a little more quickly, with less editing and scrutiny. I wouldn't call it a speed-write as it took me longer than expected thanks to the holidays, but it's more in the spirit of a fast-write than a more heavily-edited piece.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

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Christmas was a time of celebration, of food, and parties. Lots of parties. Company parties.

They were at the big one, and neither of them were prepared for how long this party was going to be.

Lili knew her father always threw big, lavish ones for the holidays, but this one seemed to be a partial celebration of both the holidays and the fact that things were looking much less dangerous, now that they were out of a lot of the hot water they had been in with the Mishima Zaibatsu. Things were never completely calm, of course-her father seemed to have an endless list of enemies-but at this moment, things were quiet.

The party was held at the finest hotel in New York; Mr. Rochefort had rented out the entire downstairs facilities. The hotel was huge-two buildings, separated by the valet parking area. Lili was staying in the one across the street; her father knew she liked her privacy, and she was twenty now.

It was freezing out; the snow was coming down heavily, but it did not stop anything inside. The decor was lovely-a large tree was in the ballroom, and the waiters milled around with plates of food and drink. Lili herself had been mingling with the guests for what seemed to have been hours now, with Sergei standing off to the side, his longcoat on and his arms folded. He was looking out across the room, checking for trouble...but occasionally catching a glance at her, as well.

Holiday festivities were never much Sergei's forte. He was an agnostic who was sent to a Russian Orthodox church sometimes when he was young, as all kids raised by the orphanage were, though he did not follow too hard. He stopped going as a teenager, and the holiday was a time where his military fellows would get together to eat, and that was about it. It was early January on top of it. He worked enough with folks from other countries and was educated so he of course knew about the typical Western holiday, he just put no real stock in it.

But the Rocheforts certainly liked their festivities, though there were few-if any-religious trappings; Mr. Rochefort to his knowledge was a long-lapsed something-or-other who didn't push anything on his family.

The festivities amused him; he enjoyed the food as he always did-working for them so long had almost spoiled him a little there-but he could go back to eating MREs with no trouble at all. He had to hunt several times on duty the past couple of years. It was all the same to him.

He even allowed himself a couple of drinks this night; nothing to even get him buzzed, let alone drunk. He more did it to enjoy the taste.

Lili would occasionally make her way over to him; she wouldn't touch him, but she would greet him, mostly to keep up appearances. Everyone there knew who her bodyguard was, and most of the other people-who were not Lili, Mr. Rochefort, or a few of their household servants-tended to steer a wide berth around the massive man.

Being perceptive as he always was, he noticed Lili growing a bit bored looking; she would fidget uncomfortably, though her clothes were not the issue. She was dressed in a more business-casual outfit, with an emphasis on the casual; she opted for a slightly longer denim skirt, long stockings due to the cold weather, short boots and a heavier blouse; she wore a shawl as well. She seemed to have her own style. She had debated going more elegantly today, he recalled; but seemed to opt for something simpler.

She looked like she needed a break, and pretty badly. Sergei began to walk over, able to hide his more...personal concern for a businesslike demeanor. He nodded to her when he arrived. She looked up, smiling softly, a look of relief appearing on her face almost instantly. She straightened up.

"I've been socializing for hours now it seems."

He nodded. "Would you like to go?"

She smirked knowingly. She did sort of have something else on her mind, of course...but it wasn't just physical things. She had something she wanted to give to Sergei for the holiday; something she figured he would look extremely good in. She really had no idea how he would take something like that, but she figured, at the very least, she could get a surprised look out of him.

"Yes. Let me tell everyone. I'll need to come back, but I'll just say I need to take a break. They'll understand. Dad and Sebastian are doing most of the entertaining anyway."

"A lot of people here."

Lili snorted light laughter. "Used to it."

Sergei offered a gentle smile. He knew that she went out of her way to make everything look good for the company, but he could tell that once in awhile-on nights like these-she would have preferred to be at a more lively place. Still, she did it without complaint.

Well, much. He was sure she'd let some of it out when they arrived back at her penthouse, not that he minded.

He went to get her coat. Sergei would, in public, occasionally pull double duty helping her with her coat, holding the door, and other odds and ends, if Alain wasn't around. He had the night off; Mr. Rochefort was fairly generous around the holidays and gave most of the servants extra time off and paid the rest extremely well. He may have been somewhat of a shark when it came to deals, but he was good to his family and those involved with them.

Lili nodded and separated, giving him a very light and brief touch on his hand...very, very carefully. She blamed a couple glasses of wine for her bravery.

No one was the wiser.

–

Sergei opened the door and walked to the side closet before stomping the snow from his huge boots; they collected snow simply from walking to their building from across the street. It was well-frozen outside, but neither minded. Sergei liked it, and Lili was even starting to enjoy it, though she gingerly shook her coat out and hung it up outside as a signal that it would need cleaning.

"I'll need to wear a new one," she proclaimed. Sergei chuckled. He knew that wearing a damp coat back to the party would not do for her.

After the two had gotten settled, Sergei removed his long-sleeved shirt and settled into one of the big chairs, sitting back. Lili grinned, walking slowly over to him, running her hand through his hair slowly a few times before tracing it to his bare shoulder.

It was very clear what both of them had been thinking after all this time at the party.

Sergei stood, sliding his arms down her back to undo her dress; he leaned in to kiss her deeply. His tongue slid between her slightly parted lips and probed around lightly; Lili moaned low, always loving how he kissed her.

It did not take her long to shed most of her clothing; Sergei managed to get down to only his trousers as she sat on the chair, mostly naked except for her bra. He knelt in front of her, leaning in to kiss her deeply again as she quickly raked her nails down his back, causing a low groan to escape his throat.

He traced his hand down her stomach, leaning in to kiss it lightly; she felt his tongue barely tracing over it, up and down. She shivered as he exhaled deeply. The room was warm, even though they were near naked...but there were of course other things that could make a person tremble.

Sergei sat up slightly, tracing his hand to her mound, rubbing it slowly with his thumb, letting it trace down to part her slightly and slide in between her lower lips as he felt how wet she was. He smirked, looking down as he gently continued to stroke her as her moans grew louder.

She knew he would tease her. It was torture sometimes...but the result was always lovely.

He could not hold back; he leaned in, parting her with his thumb as he rest his hand on her mound and let his tongue trace around her center, stroking her, covering it with her taste as he brought it back into his mouth to enjoy it for a moment. She cried out softly and bit her lip before sliding her leg over his shoulder to get him to do more.

Sergei wasted no time-he knew what she wanted, he knew what he wanted to do, and he also knew they did not have as much time as they would have liked. But he would never skip foreplay with her. It was too much fun for both of them.

Lili leaned back in the large chair, putting her other leg up on his shoulder, allowing him to raise her hips up with his arms as he delved deeper into her. She gave him a squeeze, causing him to low moan, but continued to occasionally cry out, confident the penthouse had sufficient soundproofing.

She held back a little, though, despite the fact it always felt incredibly good. Just in case.

He dipped lower, opening his mouth to take her in; his tongue rubbed quickly against her, up and down. He slid it inside briefly as he sucked at her, letting her taste fill his mouth. He looked up at her a moment, pleased that she looked completely happy right now.

He continued, running his tongue up and down her, swirling it slowly around for awhile before finally deciding to get her off; he regretted it, but he was not sure how much longer they could stay without causing some sort of disruption downstairs. Sergei cursed himself for getting riskier over these months-or years, by now-but as he felt her quiver in his arms when he brought the tip of his tongue up to her clit to tease it he exhaled deeply, realizing why exactly he did do such things.

His mind had only wandered a few brief seconds; it was now clearly set to pleasuring her again. His tongue swirled faster around her clit as his huge hands massaged her thighs and rubbed her stomach before holding her close to his mouth; she matched the rhythm of his head with her hips as she held him there. She moaned louder, arching her back high and finally crying out softly, biting her lip as the massive wave of pleasure came over her as she let go. She felt him lick furiously as he finished; she looked down for a moment. His eyes were closed and he looked as content as he always did.

She smiled softly, her eyes heavy. She gently ran her fingers through his hair, shivering a bit, as he slowly pulled away, teasing her a few more times. She giggled; his mouth was quite wet yet again. He stood, smiling down, having already released himself from his trousers; he stroked himself a few times as she sat up with a small burst of energy, not even stopping as she took him deeply into her mouth as he uttered a surprised grunt. He had been planning on just finishing off; he did not mind her insistence on this, however.

Lili sucked him deep; she wouldn't take too long, as they were pushing it a far with the time as it was, but she would enjoy herself-and please him-for a short while. Her hand snaked underneath, and she felt him tense as her slim fingers teased him in a few particularly sensitive areas as she chuckled; the fact she could get a surprised reaction still out of him amused her to no end.

The familiar salty taste appeared quickly as she sucked; his low moans-always quiet, and always sort of cute to her-came faster as he occasionally thrust forward lightly; just enough. He wasn't too hard on her, and she took the hint and sucked a bit faster yet, teasing the tip with her tongue as she pulled back, stroking it a few last times before helping him prepare. She turned him to sit on the chair as she settled down on him, meeting him in a kiss as she began to ride him sitting; this allowed for some particularly deep penetration.

She leaned low after the kiss broke, kissing his neck a moment as she sat back, allowing him to nip carefully at hers. He was careful not to leave any marks that would raise questions at the party. She rode harder and harder until she felt him start to tense; his arms slid around her again as he held her close in release. He moaned softly as he finished off; it did not take him long. Going down on her and having her return the favor had him almost ready to climax as it was.

She slowed down, separating from him, grinning. "Shower?" she asked.

He smirked at her, nodding.

We've certainly risked this one. I really hope they don't suspect anything.

She watched him walk off as her thoughts snapped back. She followed, fully pleased and ready to deal with people again.

–

Sergei moved from the shower, drying his hair. He had pulled on a pair of trousers, but was otherwise naked. He looked over; Lili had thrown on a tank top and her underwear. She stood next to a huge, rather gorgeous looking leather trenchcoat; colored a dark, sooty gray with bits of dull silver littered about it. It was extremely nice looking, though not overly fancy. He walked up to it, smirking.

"What's this?" he asked.

"For you," Lili chuckled. "I know you aren't into this sort of thing probably but...well, I thought it would look nice on you."

Sergei blinked, touching it. "Me?"

She nodded.

He smiled, picking it up. It was exceptionally heavy; made of leather, and lined-the lining was removable, making it useful in winter or autumn-he almost thought a smaller man may have trouble wearing it. Given it was sized for his huge frame, he would be correct.

Lili laughed softly; he looked like a man who had just discovered a new element, or something similar.

He tried it on; it fit perfectly. Lili had to have his measurements down perfectly...or she probably just checked his other clothing when he wasn't looking. It was a sleek design, almost futuristic looking, and leaning more on the 'rugged' side than the business-like side of some trenchcoats. He smiled at her.

"Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it," she said, grinning. "You look good in leather."

He smirked. "That's...what this is about then."

"Maybe. Also since I think you'd like it."

"I do." He removed it, only to finish getting dressed. "I will have to wear this on duty with you more often."

She smiled. "I'll try not to stare."

He placed a finger under her chin, leaning in to kiss her deeply; he lingered for awhile, enjoying this extended one. He was quite touched by this sudden gift; he expected nothing, but was genuinely pleased. It fit him rather nicely. When it broke, he went off to finish getting dressed; as did she.

"Ugh." Lili stretched after fitting on more of her clothes. "I sort of don't want to go back yet."

Sergei was halfway dressed; his trousers and boots were on, but he took his time. He walked over to examine his coat again; he thought he would want to wear it tonight, but then decided it might not be the best idea; he had no idea how her father would react to his daughter giving her bodyguard a present like that. He knew that they were cordial with one another, and even friendly; but he didn't know they were that close. Mr. Rochefort probably wouldn't have thought much of it-but Sergei did not want to make things awkward.

He looked over at Lili, half dressed herself; he allowed his eyes to trail up and down her body again, even though he had just felt it pressed against him after their pleasure. He licked his lips. There was little that could tempt Sergei-very, very little...and that thing happened to be a who, and it was her.

She walked about the bedroom, sorting things out. She looked down at the desk; on it was Sergei's knife. She picked it up. "Here. Better not forget this. In case someone needs stabbing." She chuckled. She knew if anyone started anything he wouldn't even have to pull it out.

He smirked, walking over to the bed to sort out his holster, which he wore on duty. "It's yours."

Lili blinked, the words not registering. "Hm?"

Sergei nodded toward it. "It's for you. You wanted to learn how to use one. You had asked over two months ago."

Given the hairy situation they were still in, she did indeed say that. Plus, she liked broadening her horizons anyway. She stroked the worn handle; she knew he had held this handle since he was sixteen. Almost half his life ago. She looked over at him again.

"This...is what soothed you as a kid. When you sharpened it."

He nodded.

She sat down, undoing the snap slowly and sliding it out. It was long, jagged, and she had to wonder how many times he had used it in combat. She also knew this was one of the few things that actually meant anything to him. Sergei was not a man of sentimental value, so to give her something like this...

"I...this is sentimental to you."

"It is." He stood next to her, closing her hand around the time-worn handle. It was considerably smaller, despite Lili being taller than the average woman. She held it up; she knew it was stained with dirt, blood, sweat, and gods knew what else; disgusting things that two years ago she would have been hesitant to touch. She would get the odd bit of blood on her from a fight, but that was about it; and she strongly disliked that as it was.

She blinked again, moved more than she knew. "Why would you give this to me? It was one of the only things that...brought you comfort."

"It was," he replied softly.

Lili placed it down, turning toward him after hearing the past tense. As usual, it was what he didn't say that told her everything. For once, she was completely flabbergasted.

He crouched down; as usual, his massive size made him simply more able to face her while she sat. She reached her hand out to trace over the side of his face; her fingers found the scars again, including a few of the new ones he had received while working for her family. She stroked his thick hair back; he leaned down, resting it on her legs as she gently continued to stroke him.

The two stay silent; the only noise was the wind outside and the occasional icy snow blowing against the window. They sort of weren't ready to go back to the party. Lili was still surprised; she knew what that sort of thing meant. He gave her one of the couple of things that he had with him since he was young, one of the only things that had provided him with balance, a release even from the brutality he endured.

She knew what he was telling her.

He slid his arms around her waist as he stay there. He did not feel like moving. He usually did not do things like this very often at all, but tonight he would. He could tell-by both her touch and her breathing-she was enjoying this.

Sergei was glad she liked what he gave her; he wanted her to have it. They would train with plastic knives, of course, but he was glad she liked it. He was a bit worried, truth be told; she was a young woman of finer tastes, and he had no idea how she would accept a nearly two-decade old bloodstained and worn combat knife.

He thought offering her a piece of his past would be his way of saying things he had trouble actually putting into words. She loved it, more than he could have known.

They had no idea how much time had passed-but they knew they would have to go back soon. Lili stroked his hair a few more times as he raised his head. There were no greetings or anything like that-Sergei was not a guy into pointless words.

"We should head back," Lili said. She found her words difficult to form. She thought for a moment. "What will you use?"

He smirked. "I bought one of those new ones." He showed it to her. It was quite a nasty piece of work, all told.

She smiled softly. "Thank you. Again. So much."

He nodded, touching her face lightly as he stood, grabbing his remaining clothing to put it on. They had already cleaned up and looked no worse for wear; they looked no different than they did when they arrived. The two had not been gone too long, and they doubted anyone expected anything.

As they finished dressing, Sergei reached a hand into his pocket, pulling something out to give to her. Lili blinked.

"More?" she said. She took the object. It was unwrapped; Sergei did not believe in such things, clearly. She chuckled.

It was a collar; similar to the one she wore, only with a bit less silver; it was mostly black leather.

"Oh?" she grinned

He shrugged lightly. "You look good in them."

She chuckled. "No other clothes to go with this? My other one was part of a set."

He smirked. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I'll wear it later. It might not be proper to wear at the party." She placed it in her dresser, stroking the knife once more. She walked over to get her coat, which Sergei helped her with. There were no holiday greetings or anything; there was no need for them. She felt they could become window-dressing if overused, and their relationship-whatever you wanted to call it-was not made of such things.

"Knife training at some point?"

He nodded. "Plastic ones first."

"I know, I know." She snorted lightly. She watched him to go over to get his heavy fur coat; the lovely dark gray leather trenchcoat would be better worn in different weather. He smiled at it again before turning back to her.

"I'll come over tonight again. If you aren't too tired."

She chuckled. "I shouldn't be. Maybe there's about four more hours of this. Wouldn't mind some coffee afterward. Proper coffee."

"Same." The coffee served at the party had been rather weak for his taste; it was very expensive, but brewed conservatively for the taste buds of forty-and-fiftysomething businesspeople.

He continued to help her with her coat and hat, offering his arm out as he opened the door. Lili took it, sliding behind the door for a moment to kiss him. He returned it, hoping they would get more time alone tonight. It broke, Lili reluctantly heading out the door for the thirty-some story trip down the elevator to go greet people for another few hours.

After her bit of 'decompressing', she decided this would not be too difficult at all.


	37. Chapter 37

Message in Blood Fenris30

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Summary:

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These days, Sergei is gone more often; now having to work two jobs-bodyguard and sneaking in undercover to try to pin down some of the traitorous members of the Russian military. Coming home wounded more often than once, Lili's concern begins to boil over, and she just might have a few plans of her own...

* * *

Notes:

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Well! Now we start up the 3rd story! Hopefully this all goes well; I'm pretty happy with how it's been going so far. I have a feeling things are going to slow down a bit; I reckon this arc will be about 5-6 or so by the time it's done(full stories, in any case). After that, we'll see where the series goes! I always said I'm never going to force it-we all knows what happens to long-running TV series or any series that end up forcing it, and I want this to stay as strong as I can throughout. My TENTATIVE-and this is very tentative plans that could change at any time-will be to have my vacation, and then the next 2-3 will be done spaced throughout, ending sometime in the winter. (Then we see what happens!)

But til then, we have some Sergei/Lili adventures to get started with! And by adventures I probably mean smut, action, and more smut.

* * *

Chapter 1

Sergei was gone more often these days.

Lili wished he didn't have to go, but she understood. She still worried, though. Just a little. She knew she probably didn't have to, as she knew what he was capable of...but this situation was different from the rest of them.

He had been fulfilling his duties to the best that he could, as he always did; but they had less personal time, and they both missed that. To compound things, the summer had been pretty lousy; it was usually cloudy, often rainy, and half the time stiflingly hot and humid, which caused very nasty thunderstorms. It was a situation that led to more indoor than outdoor activities, and Lili was beginning to get a bit of cabin fever.

Still, he would spend personal time with her as much as he could...and his physical touch had a much more hungry feel to it. She would find herself doing much of the same; being in love with the man now made the time apart they had to have feel even worse than it could. Especially when he was on a job dangerous enough for him to come back with new scars seemingly every week. Lili wasn't one to worry too hard about him, given she knew how good he was, but this time she had to wonder.

The situation was harder for her, she felt, because she didn't quite understand everything; mostly because they had to keep some things close to their chest. She knew that walls could have ears, and that Sergei even told her bits that he probably shouldn't have for his own duty, but he was more thinking about her knowing too much. Dealing with shady corporate people was one thing; yes, it could be dangerous, but they had their eye on a bottom line, and barring a few idiots they had to deal with like the man who attempted to clumsily shoot to wound her-they generally wanted money and power, and knew that causing the deaths of the people involved would not be conductive to getting that.

Organized crime wanted money, too...but they would not hesitate to 'make an example' out of anyone getting in the way, and they all knew this.

She knew that Lei wanted the people on the side of the organized crime ring, and Sergei wanted the traitors from the Russian military. Both had their missions and reasoning, so it was a rather perfect setup for the two of them to work somewhat together on this. It frustrated her, though; she did not want to interfere, but she wanted to help, and badly.

This was different than her problem. Her problem was hers; she felt obligated to help, and Sergei, despite being her bodyguard, knew this, and supported her the entire way on it, even helping to train her toward those ends. His disarming techniques had helped her immensely when she fought the assassin. It seemed to be a million years ago, even though she still had the light scars on her arms from that fight. She could still remember the burning bite of the knife at times.

But here, it was not only Sergei's mission, from his motherland, but Lei Wulong's mission. Interpol's mission. Interference, she knew, if she did something wrong, could mean serious, serious consequences. She did not want to jeopardize the mission, or anyone's lives...especially Sergei's, though she suspected it would not be easy to do that.

Still, I wish I could do more.

She was kept busy at least. She was twenty now, having done the internship for about a year and a half, though she still had about three years left of her studies. But now it was the time where she had to do even more serious things in the company; things that she really shouldn't mess up. While the first year and a half or so was more simple things, with maybe a couple of small meetings being led by the end, now she actually had to look at things like finances. She had learned some rather interesting, not to mention hair-raising things that had gone on behind the scenes over the years; a couple of times her fathers problems with the Zaibatsu had gotten so bad he almost let the company go, but held on. For that, she was verygrateful.

So she tried to focus herself toward that, but there was always that nagging feeling of wanting to help out with Sergei's things, too...probably because at heart she did like adventure and danger.

She had seen Lei once during the past couple of weeks; they were walking back and he had stopped into a cafe to share a few bits of information. Given they had the excuse for getting in out of the rain, being seen at a low-end cafe was not too suspicious for her.

She also got the impression he was working this job somewhat undercover from anyone else in her family...probably, she figured, for their safety. She was glad; she wouldn't want her father getting some other lame bodyguard like he had in the past. They were useful enough, but she wouldn't trust half of them to take on more than thugs. She and her father would have been killed by now if it hadn't been for Sergei, and it probably would have been sniper's bullets that did it, not even giving them a chance to respond.

She tried not to think about 'what ifs', but the mind could wander.

Snapping herself back to the real world, she prepared to go to the university, calling for the car. She got her long rain-jacket and large umbrella; judging by the rain pounding against the window, she would need it.

She decided to send a discreet message to someone to meet her at what became one of her favorite cafes here in New York afterward. She would tell the driver she was there on a meeting, and him showing up would be business as usual.

–

The limo pulled up next to the cafe, under the awning. It was part of an expensive hotel, so luckily she did not have to deal with it the rain, though she was careful not to step in any puddles. It had subsided for awhile-enough for things to dry out, though it had stayed dismal, but picked up again the past day or so, and with the nasty wind along with it. She started to wonder offhand if someone was controlling the weather with a doomsday device.

Sergei stood outside in his long, dark green oilcoat with a black tanktop worn underneath. His hair was damp; he had clearly made it out on his own. Why didn't he just ask one of the chauffeurs? she wondered. She walked by, nodding to him as Alain-who had been driving this time, opened the door for the two of them.

"When would you like to be picked up?"

"I'll let you know. I'm not sure how long this will be."

"My lady." He bowed, taking his leave. She gave her coat to the man to hang it up; it was quite nice inside and blessedly dry. Sergei did the same, as she began to examine him nonchalantly.

He didn't seem to have any new injuries from the last time, so she counted that as a good thing. He still had a few that were healing, though. She wondered how he hid them from her father, though she started to wonder if she had let him know everything after all, perhaps deciding it would be safer in the long run. Knowing thy enemy, and all. He didn't speak much with her about the dealings with her father, nor did she ask. She could be nosy, but for some reason she never much thought about that.

"My favorite place. Everything is so good here," she grinned.

Sergei raised an eyebrow. She laughed...then sighed quietly. She missed his touch, but she knew as usual they had to stay fairly businesslike here.

He looked down, seemingly a touch sad for a moment that he could not to what he wanted, but returned to his neutral expression quickly. They were seated in the back, which Lili had reserved. She liked being out of the way of everything else, and this place was nice and private. She glanced over at Sergei, who was absently scratching at one of the newer wounds on his arm. They gave their orders first, before Lili settled back, sipping the cold glass of water. It tasted quite wonderful.

"Can I ask?"

"Machete."

She shivered. Those, she knew, could do terrible damage. They're using machetes? What sort of people is he dealing with? She sort of knew the answer to her own question.

"I hope you dealt with them."

He smirked. It had a bit of an evil tone to it.

"How...I mean I know you can't go into everything but...don't they need them?"

"I know who to leave," he said, grabbing some of the finger foods they had brought to the table. "I know who they need, they know who I need. Anyone else, they do not interfere."

"Self-defense?"

"That, and I am working for my superiors."

She smirked a bit. "I feel safer knowing some of them won't be going to prison only to get out." She never saw Sergei as much of a crime fighter, and he wasn't doing it for any reason but his own work, but he was doing the city a favor, at the same time.

She sat back with the coffee when they brought it, sipping it and looking out the window at the new rainstorm that appeared to hit. "What is happening out there," she wondered aloud.

Sergei shrugged, sipping his coffee and smirking at her. She smiled back.

She liked how natural they could feel, sometimes just not even talking about anything. He disliked small talk, but would occasionally engage with her. He rubbed off on her though; Lili noticed how she sort of leaned away from the very small talk she used to engage in.

"I still wish I could help more."

He nodded. "Would some training make you feel better?"

She smirked at him. "You know me." She looked over her phone for a moment. "Later, though. I feel a little lazy today."

"Is that any way to get better?"

Lili scowled. "Hmph." She couldn't keep the face, though. He chuckled, his eyes glimmering with a small flash of affection.

She glanced around, making sure there wasn't anyone too close by hearing their conversation; the people there may have known her father or something, she didn't know. The Rocheforts did frequent more expensive places.

She had started to give consideration to the idea of visiting more...laid back establishments. The place they had gone to meet Lei was very out of the way, and she imagined she could sit and spend time with Sergei while out without having to keep an eye on things. She looked around a moment.

"I wonder if...we couldn't go to some other place."

He raised his eyebrow, as he had for the past two years when he would question her silently.

"I...think maybe it would be better sometimes. You know. To go to someplace more...out of the way."

"Like where we were not that long ago."

She smiled. "Yes. Or other places like that."

Sergei smiled softly. It was a good idea. He sort of thought that some of the places they visited here may be a bit 'dangerous' to their secrecy, if there were no meetings going on to cover for them. Unlike Berlin, most of her meetings these days, when she had them, were actually at their NYC headquarters. It was harder to make excuses. He stood, offering his arm out.

A good bodyguard always cared for his charge, after all.


	38. Chapter 38

_I think today may actually be somewhat free. Been long enough._

Lili had woken up early to get a few things done; for one, she had to make her plans for the week. As she sat there, starting glumly at her online calendar, she sort of started to regret taking on so many things at once. She had thought keeping this busy would help her, but now she wasn't so sure.

 _I sort of wonder if I can give away a couple of these projects. I probably can. I mean, I have pull. I should use it once in awhile._

She hadn't slept as well as she could have the past days; stuff weighing on her mind with her real life, stuff weighing on her mind from work.

Compounding this, Sergei was now pulling triple duty; occasionally guarding her father, guarding her, as well as his mission against the international crime syndicate-he was even busier the past couple of weeks now. More so than before, since her father did not need him as much then. The last time they had seen for personal time was when they had gone off to an almost-seedy bar on her request.

Lili wasn't one to require the company of someone. In fact she had friends she went out with; workmates, classmates. She was out with some just last night. She had fun mingling and such, and she felt quite powerful when she was out with her workmates, since she knew she was, in a way, their 'boss'...or, well, would be. It was close enough.

But...sometimes she felt distant, and while she certainly didn't rely on Sergei for her happiness, she did sort of have enormous feelings for him, and, well...the closest thing one could get to a full-bore relationship without calling it that. As far as she was concerned...it was more.

He felt the same.

But there were those nights where he would simply be out with her; sparing her a smirk now and again, and then simply escorting her home...in the limo, so they could only occasionally give a touch or a look. And then he would be back out on his mission.

The times he would come over, they would indeed indulge in one another quite deeply...but then it was back to business as usual. In a way, it was just as hard as to the times he was away permanently; the whole 'out of sight, out of mind' coming into play, Lili suspected. It was harder in the sense that she wondered about what sort of extreme danger he was in, and even just seeing him a little was better than not at all, but the one small upside was that she found herself more able to fully focus on other things.

She sighed again, staring at the clock.

 _Might as well try to occupy myself._

–

The day had felt so long. Maybe it was because she was tired, or the weather, or anything, but it seemed to just drag. But she had gone out for awhile to get a little fresh air-as damp and humid as it was-and then came back. She went alone; she insisted to her servants she would be fine and that they could perhaps get some things ready for her return.

She now stood on the elevator; despite living very high up, it was fast. It quickly hit her floor; she got off...seeing Sergei standing there by the wall, his arms folded. She smiled almost wearily as she walked by him to push into her room.

The coffee smell hit them almost at once, and it smelled wonderful.

He smiled back softly as he immediately went there to pour himself a massive cup, and her as well; his eyes clearly showing he hadn't slept too well the past couple of nights. He sat at the table, leaning back after taking a long drink from the cup. He silently lit a cigarette, crossing one huge leg over the other.

"You aren't sleeping well, are you." It was not a question. They didn't speak much when he had stopped by earlier.

He shook his head. "Busy."

Lili sighed, but she smiled sadly. "I miss you," she said. She didn't bother dancing around it.

Sergei nodded. "I can stay today."

Lili stood, walking over to him before leaning in, instigating a deep kiss. Sergei returned it, shifting so he could slide both arms around her. It lasted awhile; Sergei's hand running through her hair and down her back. She could feel how intense he was getting, and how much it was clear that he was apologizing for not being able to see her as much, except for the times he would go to work with her or accompany her somewhere out of necessity.

It broke after some time. Lili stood, moving a bit of his hair out of the way absently with a hand, smiling softly down at him.

"I'll tell Sebastian to bring some of the favorites up then."

Sergei smiled at that. He had been mostly sustaining on anything he could grab on the run, as his evenings had been busy. Times with Lili of course were one thing, but the rest of the time it was cart, diner, or deli food to go. He could eat anything, of course-he'd eaten a raw hare he had killed with his hands in the field before, and to be fair some of the stuff he got his hands on was pretty damned tasty-but Rochefort manor cuisine still continued to spoil him.

Lili chuckled at his expression. He silently took a pull of his cigarette, following with another long drink of the coffee.

She sat back down at her laptop, going to finish a few of the things she had early so her evening would be more free.

It would be a shame to waste tonight having to do a report.

She sat down with her own coffee, sitting across from him. "Can you tell me anything?" she asked, looking at his new scars, some of them not even completely healed yet.

"It has been slow going. Now that some of them are turning up dead, they're being a lot more conservative in their actions. Lei and his partner are working from their end."

"Have you gotten anywhere?"

"We have gotten ahold of several of the arms. Many are from Russia."

"Can...I ask what happened here?" She pointed to the wounds.

"Ambush. Some of them got wise."

"I take it they weren't...turned into any authorities."

He smirked a touch evilly.

She knew the answer to that. "Thought so."

Finishing his coffee, he stood to get more. "Training?"

She sat back in the chair. "I feel lazy again." She recalled the last time he had asked she felt lazy as well, though they had gotten a few sessions in since then, and she had her exercise routine. She didn't feel too bad as a result.

He nodded. He was fine with this; he'd rather spend the day doing more relaxing things. He sat back down touching Lili under her chin. She took his hand, looking a little morose for a moment.

"I wish I could help more with this."

"I know. This is...not typical."

Sergei brought his cup to the couch, laying back on it, one leg settled on the floor. Lili was not one for putting shoes on the furniture, but since his other one was hanging off of the other armrest, she didn't much care; he was longer than the couch.

Lili came over, setting her own cup on the table after sipping it...and then climbed on him, straddling his waist. They were both fully dressed-they were being a little careful right now-but it was nice to be able to have a little time together. She traced a hand down his chest, feeling the muscle and examining a few of the new scars he had gotten, in an almost protective manner. They were healing clean.

He put one hand behind his head as his other hand slid up and down her waist a few times. She leaned toward him a little to give him a single kiss, which he returned; she sat back up.

"You're healing alright at least."

He nodded. "It will happen."

She moved a hand down to run through his hair a few times. She was always pleased with how soft it was. "You can stay today, but what do you have tonight?"

"Nothing." He smirked.

She grinned as he pulled her down. While he generally never said anything, he did miss their time something fiercely, and he was more than comfortable at the moment, though if she kept sitting there he imagined she may start to feel a little something.

She looked down at him; he smirked softly again. He traced his huge hand over her arm; she could feel the rough skin and a few extra small wounds on his hands. His touch was always a contrast between the brutal fighter that he was...but also the man who cared deeply for her.

He pulled her down to kiss her for a few moments; his tongue barely poking into her mouth as he pulled away, smiling. She pressed her forehead to his.

I hope no one bugs us. Just give us a few moments here...

–

Sergei lay awake in the bed, flipping through some of his handwritten notes. He had not been sleeping well this night; while he was able to sleep most of the time, tonight was different. He was restless from some of the news he had heard, and the plans he had to make. He would figure everything out in time; he supposed this night would just be one where he was doing a lot of planning.

It was okay; he had coffee, and he knew how to stay awake on little sleep. He had been on missions where he would perhaps get to sleep for very short moments at a time every so often, at best, for several days. Getting one or two lousy nights was nothing.

There were other things on his mind, though.

He had been through quite a bit, and missed physical contact. He supposed he had gotten a bit...spoiled, for lack of a better word; in his times working for the Rocheforts, he and Lili usually ended up with a fair bit of time together. It wasn't as often as either would have liked, but it worked. They had been more devoid as of late; and while being separated was difficult, it was almost easier to not think about the physical aspect. When they saw each other every day, it was a different story.

He turned to look over next to him, his arm behind his head as he leaned against the padded headboard.

Lili was snoozing peacefully; the two of them slept naked. He looked her up and down, the sheet only half over her, even though the air conditioning was on. He smiled softly, enjoying the view for a moment.

He remembered back what she did for him not too long ago, and wondered if he could perhaps return the favor. This was not too like him, though occasionally-very occasionally-he would get the urge to be a little experimental; he did not mind trying new positions and new ways...nor did he mind trying new acts. He knew Lili was not the world's deepest sleeper, but he did not have any underwear to get through, like he did the time she managed to sneak up on him.

He could be quite stealthy, to be fair.

He smirked to himself, knowing his biggest challenge would be to not tease her like he usually enjoyed doing if he were to try this. Almost without realizing, he put the book aside and found himself shifting around a bit, realizing that yes...he was apparently going to try.

Pushing back the sheet, her legs shifted slightly; luckily for him it seemed to give him better access. He gazed up and down her body again; it did look beautiful here in the dim light.

Leaning his head down to softly nuzzle at her stomach-careful to keep his hair out of the way-he enjoyed the way it felt. She kept impeccable care of her skin, so it was always soft, and he could feel the toned muscle underneath as well.

He saw her stir again, though she still did not wake. She sighed in her sleep, though...almost like she knew something was happening.

Sergei slid down a little more, half helping to guide her legs apart until he was presented with her most intimate place right in front of him; he usually liked to tease her, but he decided to cut that short, somewhat; he leaned in to give her mound a long, lingering kiss as he inhaled her scent. Not wanting her to outdo him with her rather amazing job sneaking last time, he moved forward to begin slowly licking her up and down, flicking out quickly for a few moments before he pressed his face to her, unable to resist any longer.

He heard a pleasant sigh come out of her as she started to stir, smiling in her sleep...or what was becoming very thin sleep at this moment.

Lili wasn't sure exactly was was happening at first; she was having a dream, and then a very nice feeling started to engulf her entire body as she shifted around; her own gasps woke her up. She snapped awake, realizing what exactly was happening...and having to stifle laughter in the middle of biting her lip to keep quiet due to Sergei's rather pleasant work.

"...You..." she managed to squeak out before gasping loudly when his tongue touched her clit.

Sergei simply kept continuing on, smiling a bit to himself as her legs found their way over his shoulder and he held her closer. She was extremely wet now, and he was pressed rather well into her, enjoying every second. He wasn't sure how long he wanted to spend.

Lili was still trying not to laugh, all while trying not to shriek, as this felt really, really damned good. Having been away from Sergei for awhile, and going to sleep with him naked...it was easy for her to get aroused, and this little...surprise he just gave her made her begin to shake rather quickly. She slid her hands in his hair to hold him there; her hips began to thrust toward him. She wanted to come, and soon.

Sergei sensed this and decided to not torment her; sucking at her clit like he would, quickly flicking his tongue against it and he held her close when he felt her quiver in his arms. Swallowing what he could, he pulled away slowly, teasing her a little with his tongue, licking her a little more, before kissing her thighs. He looked up at her as he rest his decidedly wet face against her stomach, a tiny smirk on his lips.

Lili caught her breath and looked down, giggling. "Revenge?"

He shrugged, kissing her stomach lightly. He started to move...but Lili sort of gave him a squeeze with her legs.

"It's been awhile," she said, smiling softly. "I don't have to be up too early tomorrow...do you?"

Sergei shook his head, smiling. It had been awhile since they had one of their...marathon nights. Truth be told, even if he didhave to wake up early, well, he'd gone on less sleep before and in far more unpleasant conditions.

Lili grinned, playing with his hair some more. She felt wonderful; it didn't take her long to get her off the first time-it usually didn't, if he held off on the teasing and just went for it-but more so she loved when he would do little things like this. It showed even after almost two years, he was still working on cracking his shell bit by bit.

If this was any indication, he had come quite a long way. He had never really surprised her like this before. He had given her sudden head before in the past; he had done this several times. She even remembered the first time; it had been not too long after their first time together, and they had been hanging out in her room. Before she knew it he was working her underwear off. It had probably been the first time she saw how comfortable he was getting with her, as well. It had felt wonderful as always...he was just getting to know her body better in those days...while nowadays things were a bit different there.

He seemed quite content for the moment to be lying on her stomach. He licked his lips, and the faint taste of her started to make him want to begin again. He looked up at her, grinning as he raised his eyebrow again.

Going to be up awhile tonight I think, she thought while she was still able to focus.

He leaned back into her, slowly stroking her with his tongue for awhile. She bit her lip after a time, trying to push him close...but he kept back, teasing her. Just giving her light flicks up and down, occasionally nudging closer to tease her clit, he smirked to himself; he knew he was driving her about mad right now.

Soft moans escaped her lips as he kept going with his teasing; he would poke his tongue lightly inside of her for just a few moments. She would let him have this; she knew how much he loved to tease her before going in...and to be frank, it sometimes made the orgasm that much better. He stayed away from her clit-it was sensitive, and it almost felt better to her for him to avoid it for awhile.

She wasn't concerned, as he knew exactly how to get multiple orgasms out of her.

Stroking his hair, she tried to thrust her hips more toward him; he met her a few times closer, but stayed back awhile longer, until she felt she was going to pass out from the teasing. He moved forward again, sliding his tongue in and out, sucking at her, and he let her set the pace with her hips.

After a short time, she felt herself come again, having to bite the pillow to not squeal as she felt him licking through the entire thing. He pulled back, kneeling between her legs, licking his lips before finally going to lick her a little more; she was soaked from her front to back, and her thighs were wet as well. He finally wiped his mouth off, settling down with his head next to her waist.

Panting, she sat up, looking down at him. He smirked.

"I might need some time," she said. The teasing-and subsequent massive orgasm, left her a bit worn out.

He shrugged and smirked. "You don't have to." It was his way of saying that he was perfectly content having just pleasured her tonight. It was quite true; he was more glad he got a little bit of 'revenge'...even though it wasn't exactly unpleasant.

"We should clean up a little first..." she giggled. She reminded herself to get her sheets off the bed herself; something she did every so often these days for 'cover up' purposes. She made an excuse that she didn't mind occasionally doing something on her own to her servants.

He was comfortable where he was, though he knew they should get in the shower. He stood and moved off to the bathroom; Lili decided to follow as always.

Some traditions were always worth keeping, she felt.


	39. Chapter 39

Lili was pretty excited; she had gotten to go on a couple more outings with Sergei, meeting with Lei in the seedier areas. While she absolutely did not give up any comforts, she did start enjoying looking forward to those odd days where she spent them more as a 'regular' person...sitting in the corner of a booth, sipping strong coffee. Most of the time it was simply Lei stopping by to pick up some item or small report. His partner was never with him these days; now deep undercover, he was apparently getting excellent information which could help Sergei on his end, as well.

She had met him once; only twenty himself, spending two years in the military and Lei had discovered he had a knack for subterfuge that even people he had known for years didn't have. He was also solidly capable of defending himself if things went wrong, and seemed like a natural pick, though Lei had been hesitant at first given his age.

Sometimes Lili thought that sort of thing could be fun. She wondered how she would fit in doing something like that.

 _I'd probably start to miss all of my comforts._

Today they would be going to another out of the way place, over the bridge and off a few of the lesser-traveled, more run-down streets. Nice places to discuss more discreet things in a corner booth, even though they kept mostly to things that didn't make much sense to the public or anyone that heard it. In addition, this place was reportedly rather close to some of the goings-on; she suspected Lei was busily staking things out and would meet up with them later on.

The weather had improved only slightly. It didn't rain as often, though it was now stifling; the humidity was so thick Lili thought she would drown if she stayed outside too long. The air had an underlying half hot, half chill quality that one could not even describe; like it was too chill to go without an overshirt for too long...but too hot to wear one, either. She almost wished whatever storm wanted to blow in would just get it over with again.

She _hated_ what it did to her hair.

They would be traveling by Sergei's large jeep. She always wondered what music he'd be playing, but it was usually his industrial; she noticed classical was more often used when he wanted to relax. The jeep was kept well-repaired and in order, but was mildly cluttered. Sergei kept his room impeccable, his clothing pressed and hung, and his own personal appearance very well groomed-but it seemed he liked his jeep to be a little more lived-in. It smelled like leather, faintly of gun oil, old cigarette smoke, and...well, him. Not smells that one would think someone of Lili's status would be party to...but for her, it was one of the more relaxing things she could think of, particularly after a busy week.

Usually she tried not to think about the odd small, rust-red stain on the carpet that was kept physically clean...but, well, some things were hard to get out even with a ton of washing.

She was heading downstairs at this moment, waiting in the lobby for Sergei to appear. She had managed to slip out; but it would be of no concern if someone saw. She could say she wished to study in a cafe, and let them call the limo for her.

Sergei came down a few moments later, dressed fairly lightly; sleeveless shirt, cargos, and heavy boots as always. She noticed his shirt was Kevlar when she brushed by it, which meant that he was playing it safe tonight; he usually did when meeting with Lei. She nodded, keeping things in a professional manner as she glanced around and went down the hallway, only turning toward the garage this time.

No one was the wiser, as usual.

 _I'm really good at this sneaking thing these days..._

–

"No one seems to be there. Not closed, but service is too damn slow. Wouldn't waste my time."

That was the response they got from a scruffy, middle-aged looking fellow who was leaving the bar when they started to open the door.

"Thanks," Lili replied. "Maybe they're tied up."

"Been tied up for awhile now. I ain't got all night." He chuckled. "This place ain't doing so well as it is. Dunno if they can afford to have such shitty service." With that, he nodded politely, presumably heading off to another watering hole.

The bar was small, dark, and smelled of a mix of beer, dust, and tobacco. She didn't quite like the vibe of this place as much as the other place they usually went, though they did not want to keep going to the same place. The soft buzz of the flickering fluorescent signs hummed in the air, and the wooden floor creaked with every step. She looked up at him.

"He really knows how to pick the places..." she looked around, frowning at the booth as she flicked a cigarette butt off of it with her boot. "It does seem to be empty."

Sergei nodded. "It does apparently have a use for something. His partner should be here by now, but perhaps he's running late." He sat down at the edge of the booth, lighting a cigarette. New York wasn't as anti-smoking as it used to be, at least in these areas it seemed...though she did notice as the corporations got more of a foothold, things changed over time.

"Where is the bartender?" she wondered aloud as she sat in the booth next to him.

Sergei shrugged. "Restroom? Though it seems the man had been waiting for awhile, as well."

She snorted. "I hope he washes his hands." She still could not shake the weird feeling from this place.

He noticed her expression. "Something does feel odd."

"Not...another setup..."

"I don't think so. Our friend leaving probably would have been in the middle of it."

The room was only moderate sized; maybe twenty tables and booths combined, a couple of old jukeboxes at the tables that they figured didn't even work, and the bar at the far end. One hallway lead to the restrooms...or restroom, as it was unisex. Another door she presumed lead to the kitchen. There was one more door off to the side.

They continued to wait, Lili looking around the walls at the dusty pictures; people who she never knew, most of whom were no longer alive, judging by the aging of them. There was a battered old video game of sorts in the corner; she suspected it hadn't worked well in awhile.

 _Where is the bartender?_

Sergei stood again to walk over to the bar, examining it. He checked his watch. "Lei has not sent any messages yet."

"Get held up?"

"Possibly. He was busy today. Though his partner should have met us here."

"Hello?" Lili said to no one in particular, maybe wondering if someone was around. She got up to check the bathroom; no one in there. The only thing there was a vent that was far too small for a person. She shivered.

"I don't like this," she said.

Sergei nodded. He poked his head into the kitchen; it looked used, but there was no one there. He figured it was such a small place the bartender probably handled most of the orders, as it was just simple bar food; nothing complex was cooked here. He thought for a moment and decided to take a round, checking everywhere in there.

Nothing. No one even hiding in the walk-in fridge, if there had been a reason for it. He thought to message Lei, but then he decided against it-he did not want to give any sort of signals to him while he was potentially on a job.

He came back out, folding his arms and looking around the seedy establishment. He started to walk around, examining things; he decided to go behind the bar since there did not seem to be anyone there. He carefully searched-not touching too much-to see if he could perhaps find some sort of...something. He wasn't even sure what he was looking for. Anything, perhaps, to give a clue.

All he found was the register, the taps which served cheap beer, and other odds and ends. Folders that looked like they hadn't been cracked in ages, given the thick coating of dust over them. Envelopes scattered around held receipts from weeks and months back.

Finally he came across an envelope stuffed full of money. One-hundred dollar bills, fifties, twenties. He shuffled through it for some moments before putting it back and looking around some more. Lili noticed a more concerned look on his face.

"What is it?"

"Money. A lot."

She blinked. "Maybe they keep their money there they make during the day?"

He showed it to her. "This looks..."

"More like a payment..." she said. "For what, though?"

He shrugged, going back over to the booth and sitting to light another cigarette.

Lili walked around the bar a bit, trying to keep herself occupied with something. Ten more minutes passed. Then twenty. She went to sit back down.

"When was Lei supposed to arrive?"

"About a half hour ago." He checked his watch, before eyeing the third door he hadn't gone into yet. "No message. His partner hasn't even shown, either...his partner was supposed to be here first."

"Maybe he's tied up with Lei. Met him first."

He frowned.

After a few more minutes-still without a bartender, though it was clear neither of them wanted to leave because they knew something was amiss-a message came through on Sergei's phone."

"It's Lei. He's held up. He had sent a message to his partner to tell us...but his partner is not here to relay it."

Lili blinked. After a couple more messages, Sergei pocketed the phone and stood.

"I need to explore more. His partner isn't with him. He apparently left hours ago, and should have been here long by now."

"That...doesn't sound good."

He shook his head. "Stay here." He thought, taking his holstered gun off and handing it to her. "Put this on." With the unspoken phrase use this if you have to, as I think something big might be going down tonight.

She nodded, standing. "I'll stay in a safe area. Don't worry." Her stomach sank. "That money. What if the bartender was bribed."

He folded his arms, looking at her. She was right.

"That could be." _Bribed for what, I wonder._

Sergei paused. He looked around...in the corners, around the ceiling. There were few windows. It was likely no one would be coming in from anywhere except the front door or the kitchen. There was also likely no one looking in at the moment.

Lili stepped forward as he started to walk off...and quickly kissed him. It relaxed her quite a bit, as she surveyed the area, going to hang out in a discreet spot, though one where she could reach any exits-or perhaps get the drop on anyone-if something _did_ go wrong.

He simply nodded to her after he touched her face with one finger, walking over to the other door, checking it. It was unlocked, and a short hallway connected it to a couple of rooms; one dusty office, and another door. He shut the one behind him, heading down to check the one at the far end.

He figured this lead to one of the warehouses. The buildings here were all connected, so it wasn't a secret or anything, but he had a feeling this warehouse was being used for illicit activities. Between the lack of _anyone_ here, the missing partner, and the envelope of money, he was starting to put together what may have happened; the owner was paid off with a hefty sum to 'go somewhere'-he may have been forced into this as well along with the sum to help keep him quiet-and he did just that.

Which meant Lei's partner could be in danger. He was missing for a few hours, and he was probably here for a reason; he guessed he picked this area _because_ he knew it was being used for something. Being the inside man, he likely had a lot of knowledge on where some of their activities took place, and he wanted to perhaps report, have backup, or both.

He opened the door after listening a few moments; it was silent. He then sighed very deeply after he walked in, moving through some boxes and further in...before hearing a man moaning in the corner.

The room looked like a butcher's chamber. Strewn on the floor near a table were what seemed to be wire clippers and a few other bloodied tools.

There was one dead syndicate member, lying in a pool of blood with his throat torn out from a high-caliber gunshot wound. Another was in the corner, bleeding from several knife wounds around his torso; Sergei had no idea how badly he was hurt.

The other members were alive; he wasn't sure how many. Six to eight, he guessed. It appeared that Lei's partner had been found out. Sergei wasn't sure how it happened, but it happened, and it only took him a moment to tell. They were not in the direct room; he could hear various sounds coming from other parts of the warehouse.

The young man was dead, chained to a chair. Judging by the bloodied tools and the chainsaw off to the side-as well as his condition-they had made sure that they sent a message to people when it came to undercover. He frowned; the young man had been intelligent, he knew Lei liked him, and Lili had thought him a decent person as well even though they had only met briefly. It was his age, though; he had just barely turned twenty, and they still did this. The blood had run nearly to the door; the severed arm had been the big cause of this, he guessed...as well as his slit throat.

 _By the look of things, he never talked._

He knew Lili was in the building as well. He hoped she would be safe. He trusted her skills, but he sincerely hoped none of them had instruments like chainsaws on hand.

He was in a troubling spot at the moment; he knew the men were in the warehouse right there, but he did not know if there were more that would come. He wanted to go get Lili, but if he did not deal with the men now, he had no idea if they could get into the bar, possibly heavily armed.

For that matter, he would have to contact Lei; but right now it was too dangerous. He had to take care of the people here and get back. He sort of wished they had picked another establishment; he almost wondered if they had spied on Lei and his partner and managed to find out they came here for something. He knew how careful Lei was, but perhaps the young man had slipped up somehow. They would have to figure this out later.

He thought of his opposition.

These guys were not needed by his men or Interpol.

He decided right then he did not want people like this running around. He was not some sort of do-gooder to deal out justice to wrongdoers, but he _was_ a man who had little patience for people like this. He also decided it was probably for the best if he went in to deal with them as quickly as possible...he knew Lili, he trusted her, and he knew that if things got too bad, she would come to him.

He looked at Lei's partner again, and how badly they worked him over...and he would assure them that he could do muchworse.

He would make sure to put the young man in some more respectful position when he was finished, but...truth be told, a corpse was a corpse to Sergei. Yet, still, he knew others may wish to see him in another way.

 _Terrence. His name was Terrence._

He wasn't sure what gnawed so badly at him, but he supposed it was the brutality mixed with his age. He imagined he perhaps tried to do too much on his own; he started to wonder why Interpol would hire someone so young for something this dangerous. Hire him, sure, but perhaps someone with more undercover experience would have fared better here; with youth sometimes comes carelessness. Despite having battle experience, experience in the criminal underworld was something completely different.

He heard more sounds appearing right above him and saw the wooden staircase, making him realize his decision to deal with them first was the correct one, which made him feel considerably better. He cracked his knuckles and started to walk. His steel-reinforced combat boots were loud on the concrete floor, though he did not care if they heard him.

He walked over to the dying man-who had been unable to speak, possibly from wounds-and began to rain blows on him with his massive fists and boots, beating him to death where he lay while he maintained his terrifying silence.

–-

Lili did not like what was happening. This bar they had come to had left her with a nervous feeling from the start, and when the contact had not shown, the feeling only got worse. She decided to sit tight...but she was still a little nervous.

 _I'm going to have to fight something tonight, aren't I?_

She usually enjoyed it; but in these more dangerous situations...she wasn't as sure, especially since she sort of had an idea of the types of people she was dealing with.

She took the gun out to examine it, making sure it was ready.

Just in case.

The next man he came across as he walked through some of the hallways couldn't move fast enough; Sergei smashed a huge fist into his face, forcing him to fly back into the wall; he followed with a vicious kick to his stomach, doubling him over and putting him on his knees, spitting up blood and bile. He wound back with his brutal strength to kick the man in the face twice; the second kick snapping his neck. His face was a bloody mess from the first blow alone as the steel toe of his boot had smashed his nose and mouth into a ruin. He fell onto his back, blood running from his face and dripping onto the concrete.

He heard more shuffling; the crunching sounds of Sergei's monstrous blows were clearly enough to get their attention, or the attention of at least some of them. He crept around, quieter than any man his size had a right to be; he even managed to keep his footfalls fairly quiet. He crept around to a side room, ready to ambush, since he did not know what weapons they had or what his enemies were capable of.

A somewhat well-built man-wearing a casual suit and tinkering with a gun-turned the corner, wondering what what was happening. There were two others with him. Sergei could still hear more men shuffling about; the warehouse was not very good for keeping things quiet. He barely had time to take in the blood running from the dead men.

Sergei leapt out; his powerful legs driving him forward as he tackled the man, bowling him over and cracking a few ribs by the sound; he smashed down onto his face with his fist twice; then switched. He pounded him six or seven times, the last one clearly cracking his skull against the concrete; both hands dripped blood and the man's face was a bloody mess. He rolled off, taking his low stance at the other two who had drawn weapons; one a baton and another a machete...which he knew they liked to use. The man with the machete's suit had blood spatters on it...actually, spatters were too kind a word.

He was _quite_ bloody, telling him that he was one of the people who had worked over the young man downstairs.

That one, he decided, would die a little painfully.

Sergei ducked right as he dodged the machete; he was the more dangerous man, but the baton hit him across the shoulderblades as he fell over, rolling safely and leaping back up. The big man with the baton kept at him, realizing how dangerous he was, swinging out, preventing Sergei from getting in; the second soldier tried to slash at him, and managed to get a couple of small cuts in.

Sergei wiped some blood from his mouth from a glancing blow with the club, realizing he had to take one out quickly. He grit his teeth, going low with a sweep; ducking under another slash and tripping him down with both of his legs. He pulled, snapping the man's legs instead as he screamed; he quickly rolled around, smashing the man's head into the concrete twice with immense strength before savagely snapping his neck and flipping to his feet afterward. His opponents would find he could move faster than his size would hint at.

The man with the machete tried a clumsy downward chop; seeing how quickly and brutally Sergei killed his tough partner had shaken him. As he was off balance, Sergei lifted his massive fists high, sparing him a terrifying glare as he brought them both down on top of his head, smashing him directly into the floor in an explosion of blood as his face hit; he twitched from the sheer force of the brutal blow. He stared coldly down at him and slammed his boot down onto the back of his head, grinding it in a few moments as blood seeped from underneath. The man tried to get up, flailing his arm around. He quickly stomped on the hand that held the machete, shattering the bones to splinters. He went back to his head, grinding it in, stomping down for a moment as he felt more bone break.

Truth be told, he was sort of glad to not have Lili here to see this. Later on, he would realize what bothered him...the young man was bold, he was curious, and he was wanting to help.

He was also Lili's age.

Had Lili been involved in this, he thought she would have done the same thing; tried to uncover more.

He ground his heavy boot in more and more, the man moaning in agony; he heard the sounds of more footsteps heading in.

He expected this.

Staring down a few more moments to figure out what to do, he simply wound back to kick the man hard, flipping him up more to his knees, his face a terrible mess from being ground violently into the bloodied concrete. As he reeled in shock, he smashed his gigantic boot square onto the man's mouth, shattering his jaw to bits; as a quivering yell choked short as he sucked in desperate, whistling breath through he ruin of his face. Sergei glared down at the broken man, who had tortured his last victim.

Sure, others were involved...but he was bloody, and clearly one of them, and he caught him first.

He kicked him again and again. His lip curled into a snarl and he kicked him some more; his ribs broken and his head now a red horror. He could still see the man moving...he knew he was still alive through all of this. Somehow, Sergei managed to miss the killing blow.

On purpose. Sergei knew how to kill, but he also knew how to do other things. Darker things. Things he did not speak of with Lili, or anyone else. Things that would make someone wonder how he would be capable of caring for another human being-let alone love them-if they had witnessed it.

Things that after he would have to do them now and again, no one spoke of them after.

It was made all the worse by his silence. Even the most dense person in the world could tell there was no mercy to be found at this moment in Sergei.

Finally, the tortured gurgles stopped with one more ferocious downward kick that split his head in two; he was already on his back, unable to stay up through the previous assault. Blood and brains leaked out from the awful remains, Sergei staring coldly at the corpse as he heard more men come in from behind.

He heard one of them gag.

Turning, he slowly looked at them, wiping the blood spatter from his face; the violent kicks he rained on the man sprayed a mass quantity of blood everywhere.

 _They probably didn't gag when they were doing for the young one._

 _It's always different when it's one of their own..._

 _–_

 _Great. Didn't this happen once before? I'm just going to go with him next time._

It figured a few men would be moving through here; clearly, it was a front for their operations, or they happened to have their ops behind it...given that the owner was missing, he was either involved, kidnapped, dead, paid off, or gods knew what else.

They seemed to be coming from the place where Sergei came from, which worried her...but only for a moment.

She touched the gun in its was dressed in fairly comfortable, lower-key clothing; a tank top, jeans, and short boots, so she would have no issue moving about. She imagined she could keep herself both low key...but ready to fight if necessary.

Sliding quietly out of the chair-keeping in mind things she had learned about being quiet-she slid around to a better position to watch. She could possibly avoid combat here, but if she had to fight, she would rather have the drop on people whom she did not know anything about; how they were armed or their skill level. Common thugs would be no problem, but better syndicate soldiers-armed-could be dangerous...even deadly.

She took shallow breaths, relaxing. She remembered the little things she had been taught. Staying calm would work.

Whatever was going on in the back, it was probably bad. Sergei was still back there, and there were men back there.

Likely in bad shape, of course.

She could tell there was one at the front; she could strike quickly, knocking him out if her blows were true. She knew she could draw the gun if need be...though she would try to avoid that.

Lili Rochefort still refused to kill a person unless it could not be helped; she imagined it would have to be down to the wire.

She saw the men walk in, not knowing where they were headed. Outside? To get more help? Or some secret passage...she had no idea if one even existed.

 _Now,_ she thought to herself, hoping she was right.

She jumped out, sweeping low to take the first man off of his feet; he rolled, but she caught him with a kick to his chest, rolling him over some more. As he tried to kneel, she struck him twice in the face with her fist,followed with a knee, and then a low round kick; he went over, dazed and clearly not terribly interested in fighting for the next moments.

Probably not until he woke up.

She quickly snapped up, noticing a man was trying to pull a weapon out; it was a handgun. Not hesitating-somehow, she wasn't sure how-she slid around to get him in a hold, quickly hitting upward to dislocate his elbow, before kneeing him in the gut and coming around with a hand strike to his nose, bloodying it, sending a spray of it onto her shirt. Another knee to the temple as he bent over sent him right into the side of the bar and knocked that one out cold as his head bounced against the wood. Blood leaked from his nose onto the floor, though he was breathing. He was quite out of commission for now, at least.

The third man was confused on how the slim girl who had not supposed to be there in the first place just managed to disable two of them within a few moments; he was a bit slow on his movement, though managed to throw a punch, meeting her in the ribcage; she exhaled, gritting her teeth. She kept her hand around the gun, maneuvering around as he went to try to tackle her...which she sidestepped.

This allowed Lili to turn the gun around and pistol-whip him across the back of the head twice, putting him immediately face-down on the floor. She had been taught where to hit to put someone out quickly with a small, blunt object, and she finally got to use it.

Looking around at the three men taken out with little wounds to her besides some bruising, she was quite proud of herself. She looked around, wondering how long it would take them to wake up. She paused to give one more swift boot to the guy she just pistol-whipped.

Just in case.

Noticing some material at one part of the bar, she took a closer look; she wasn't sure what it was used for...but she got an idea.

She grinned, starting to measure out lengths of it and tried to find something to cut it with.

–

Sergei had the final man by his head; he was already beaten badly, his partner twisted into shapes that a human being should never be twisted into-living or dead-in a corner, blood flowing freely from several parts of his body. Sergei had a few wounds himself; the men were fairly skilled to be sure. He had several slashes, and one had caught him in the nose with a glancing blow, causing it to bleed a little.

He dragged him as he struggled feebly against Sergei's vice-like grip into another room, close to where they did their dirty work. He crushed his knee under his heel, not changing expression as the man screamed.

He eyed the tools, the man looking terrified now; Sergei picked one up...only to dash it against the floor, smashing it under his heel. He looked over at the chair-which had it's back turned from them-and then back down to him.

Silence or not, the man understood what Sergei's icy glare may have been saying.

 _He probably went through much worse than what you're about to._

Staring at him longer, though...he realized he was pathetic. He knew he would not talk, and he knew that most likely the rest of the men escaped. He grabbed him by the head again, slamming his face into the stone wall twice; as he slid down, moaning, he stomped the back of his head in with a massive _crunch,_ blood spraying out in a fan on the wall behind him.

He slid the rest of the way down, the wall smeared with his blood where he was touching it all the way to the floor. It leaked from his head over the floor, which was already covered.

Sergei sighed; it was done. He imagined more had already gotten away, but he wished they had gotten here sooner. Though with Lei held up at another area-possibly a decoy, he didn't know-it likely would not have mattered. He realized that so many of his situations lately ended up with him slaughtering a bunch of men, and he wondered if he ought to wear his armor more often now that he was neck-deep into this mission which took a bit of a darker turn than he would have suspected.

He turned to throw the door open, wanting to quickly check on Lili.

She was in the hallway, wanting to check on him, as it had been awhile, and she wasn't sure if more enemies would be coming through or not. She went up to him, catching her breath. She had clearly been fighting.

"Lili..." he started. She blinked, pushing him aside, after seeing how bloody he was.

"I...what..." she stepped backward, staring into the room...where she could _just_ make out the remains of the young man in the chair; it was far back, thankfully,, sparing her the worst of it. But she could see enough. She stared at him a few moments before Sergei pushed in, blocking her view.

She put a hand up to her mouth. "Why...?"

"They found him out, I suppose." He looked cold. "I killed all I found."

She turned to walk back, seemingly disturbed more than normal from this. She felt a little bit woozy as she made her way back into the bar, wrapping her arms around herself. She had seen Sergei kill enemies before, and violently; she had watched him twist their limbs, break arms, legs, and necks, and even crush their skulls so the contents of their heads leaked out onto the ground. It was grotesque, brutal, and merciless. Even that first day when she the aftermath of when he mangled the men who had snuck onto their grounds didn't bother her this much.

But there was something about the young man...her age...he was helpless when they did that.

She turned to walk back to the bar to sit down. Sergei checked her over; she had some bumps and dirt on her, but seemed in good shape The spray of blood on her shirt was small, and did not seem to be hers. She looked up at him.

"Cover him?"

Sergei nodded, turning back toward the room. He searched around until he found something-which seemed to be a tarp, which they probably would have used to transport him-and covered him up, closing his good eye before he did.

 _You didn't talk. You were probably better than some soldiers I had known._

He spat on the ruined corpse by the wall, now feeling particularly vindictive here. He would wash his hands and then break the news to Lei the next time he checked back in; he did not want to interrupt him where he was. He walked back in, seeing her standing there by the door and wanting to badly give her comfort, but he knew he was an absolute mess right now.

"Where are the men you fought?" he asked, wiping his hands on his shirt the best he could, though there was no getting the stains off without washing them.

She managed a tiny snort, which was half a sigh. "Over here."

He followed her...and there were the men, tied up with some sort of material she found, all behind the bar. He looked down at her, sparing her a small smile.

"This will be good...Lei will be able to bring them in for questioning." They were bound, gagged and well out of the way, but that didn't stop him from accidentally smacking one in the side of the head with his bloodied boot. Not too hard, of course. The man moaned. He suspected these three had nothing to do with what went on in the warehouse; they were simply part of the syndicate, called in.

He turned around and walked off to the kitchen, Lili following close behind.

She usually didn't see him _this_ bloody. He trailed it from one end of the bar to the other, and it looked like-judging by the terrible shape the one by the wall had been in-he had been especially nasty to them back there. His face was spattered with it, though some was his own; his lip and nose oozed it.

He turned the water on in the big, white sink-she could have probably almost bathed in it, as it was pretty much industrial sized-took his shirt off, and began to wash himself up the best he could after spitting a line of blood into the bottom. He almost methodically cleaned his face, chest, arms, and even his hair. His clothes were still a mess, but there was nothing one could do. His black tank top hid most of the blood, though his trousers were a disaster. His oiled longcoat could cover most of it, at least, for the way home, and they would be in his jeep for the journey in any case. There were other elevators he could take up; it was not the first time he had ended up having to come in a different way because he had been in combat.

She had already cleaned herself up, though she only had a little fighting 'residue' on her...and she considered a little more than enough for her; no matter how much she loved a scrap, she still hated to get unnecessarily dirty. She had watched Sergei clean the blood of so many men off of himself, though...most of them killed in duty to her.

He turned around, drying himself off somewhat with a towel he found. He bent over and used the now-damp towel to get the worst of it off of his boots; she shuddered as there was apparently more than blood on them. He rinsed the towel off once-the water turning bright red as it fell into the sink-and cleaned a little more; it would have to do for now until he got back. When he was satisfied, he thoroughly rinsed the thankfully dark-colored towel one more time, cleaned out the big sink and sat back against it. He checked the phone, waiting on Lei's inevitable call as he shoved a cigarette into his mouth and lit it. A bit of his wet hair fell across his forehead and toward his eye, though it did not seem to bother him.

Lili hadn't been able to take her eyes off of the scenario. While she imagined there would be no trouble for him, given his on-duty status and physical wounds on his body-she supposed he still had it in him that he try to clean up areas the best he could when he was done using them. Military cleanliness, and all. She wasn't _totally_ sure why she couldn't stop staring, as she had seen him fight countless times...but she shrugged and didn't think too much about it. She was probably trying to get her mind off of everything.

She looked him over, seeing the wounds on his body. One or two had started to ooze a little blood again; he dabbed them with the towel with a free hand as he smoked. They would clot soon, he figured. He didn't seem to care he collected them. She didn't understand sometimes how he seemingly couldn't feel them...or if he did, he just didn't care about the pain. He looked up at her when he was done.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She couldn't remember when he had asked this last. He usually just let her say on her own. He started to walk out of the kitchen and brushed a hand over her back gently on his way out. She followed.

She nodded. "They were so..."

"He probably gave himself away. Made a mistake. Going undercover...I have met young men like him. They go in a bit too hard. In our case it was the military."

"Young and skilled?" she asked, shivering.

"Yes. And they get caught. Or killed. Or both."

She imagined that he probably went a bit too far; probably tried to pocket something he shouldn't have, and it lead to his discovery.

Lei wasn't lying when he discussed what they do to people who were caught.

Sergei went behind the bar, not being particularly gentle with the tied-up men he accidentally booted a few times. He grabbed a bottle of what seemed to be whiskey, and brought that and glasses to the table. He poured a shot, offering the bottle to Lili. He took a deep pull of his cigarette.

She smirked slightly for a moment, deciding that while she was usually not into the stuff, today seemed like a good enough one as any to take the edge off.

"Sergei...? What did you do to them?"

He was silent, sipping his drink as he smoked. "You don't want to know."

"...You...like that night." She remembered when he had done...something to a man for information leading to the mole.

He stared ahead, knowing that she could read him. Sergei, it seemed, could hide his feelings for absolutely anyone...except for her. Everyone has a weakness, it seemed.

"Why? Was it what they did?"

He nodded.

She had seen the room; it was a mess, and she knew it wasn't all because of the young man, either. There was _far_ too much blood for that.

He crushed the smoke out in one of the old ashtrays when he was done. "He...I could have seen you getting involved to try to do what he did."

She blinked, her stomach twisting. She remembered how she thought it would be fun to do it, that she would be good at it. And she did think she would be...pretty good, but she wasn't trained.

 _I probably would have tried._

She went to stand in front of him as he sat there. His skin was clean, but his clothing was a mess. She still didn't care.

"Did you think they would return?"

"I did think they would try to go out to the bar. They probably would, given the three that came in."

"I never knew you to get that..." she trailed off, suddenly remembering.

"It can happen." He looked up at her.

She thought back, and remembered the look in his eyes when they were at the bar that one day when the man had attempted to shoot her...and the look in his eyes had been terrifying. Not to her...but to the man, and she remembered what he had put him through. She remembered thinking for him to just end it.

 _You have always known what you're getting with him...probably since you saw the remains he left on that very first night he killed the attackers at the mansion._

When she looked back down at him, his eyes had softened looking at her, as they would do. She walked forward to run her fingers through his hair, cupping the back of his muscular neck in her hand. His hair was still damp.

They stayed like that for some time, Lili had no idea how long it was.

After a few moments, Sergei's phone went off. He checked.

"Lei," he said. "Sent a message. He's finished there."

"Will you tell him?"

"Yes."

"I feel bad for him. He seems like the type that will blame himself."

He nodded.

Lili went over to him to gently brush a hand over his hair as he decided to make the call.

He leaned his forehead into hers for just a brief moment, kissing her one time lightly on the mouth. She backed up as he stood to walk off.

She sat with her drink, pondering over everything.


	40. Chapter 40

More rain beat on the window as Sebastian made sure the room was a comfortable temperature.

Lili was meeting with her father, going over things in the past few weeks. It had been two weeks since the terrible warehouse incident, though she composed herself well. She actually felt okay about things, though naturally stayed a bit bothered by some of it. She tried to hide it, though.

Her father had been quite proud of her; she had been doing good work with the internship, kept her schoolwork straight, and still had some time for her other activities, whatever they may have been. He didn't press on her too hard for them. He was about to leave in a few days for a long business trip, and so he wanted to go over what he could with her now before he left.

"Coffee?" Sebastian asked. She nodded.

Mr. Rochefort ate one of the appetizers that were on the rather lavish table downstairs in the fine dining room of their building. "Glad to see everything is working out. We've gone up a lot...a whole lot. Thankfully Mr. Dragunov had helped take care of the problem we were having."

Lili nodded quietly. She always got a bit...weird when her father would bring him up.

"Are you okay? You have seemed quiet today."

"Oh, I'm fine," she said. "Had a few late nights studying."

"Well, don't be too hard on yourself." He sipped his coffee. "I'll leave Sergei here with you." He would alternate his names, for some reason. "I trust him to keep a good watch over the place. Plus he mentioned to me it would fit his current business."

"I think so. We talk now and again. He seems to like it here." She did her best to lie as well as she could right now.

"Seems to. I'm glad you ended up getting along. So many bodyguards just seemed to...not work out." It was true; they either annoyed her or got annoyed of her, but this seemed like a million years ago. They got paid well, but truth be told neither Mr. Rochefort or Sebastian thought any of them truly able to defend her-or the family-against their worst enemies.

He then turned back to the subject of business. Lili exhaled at that; she got awfully...fidgety, and for good reason, when the topic was on Sergei, especially with some of the stuff he was saying.

He was there-he stood by the door, wearing his usual more casual guard wear; his cargos, she noted, had some extra straps and buckles around, with bits of leather to protect his vital areas. She found them incredibly hot, and with his vest and combat boots, she had to stop herself from staring. He was in that 'ready to attack' mode. She sort of wondered what was up with the almost-bondage looking military trousers, but she supposed the extra...things or whatever on them could come in handy. They did seem to have extra pockets.

Sebastian offered him a cup of coffee as he stood there, and he accepted, sipping it. He did not look over at the table too often. He mostly checked his watch or looked out the window, watching the rain.

She adjusted her hair. "How long is this trip?"

"Three weeks. Be careful while I'm gone." He would always say this; he did know that Sergei was involved with a few mission-things on the side, and he was still overprotective.

"I will." She naturally didn't bring up their trips to the shooting range, the training, or anything of the sort.

"We're here until the winter, aren't we?"

"Yes. I will be in the process of making a few more deals while we're here, and since you're at the university here as well, I figured we might as well see it out. All of your credits will transfer."

Lili smiled. "Only three or so more years left."

"And I will let you do more with the company during this." He looked toward Sergei. "We would keep you on as long as you wish."

He nodded, turning to bow. He spared Lili a fast glance-only she could see-and his eyes seemed to almost glint for a half a second. He stood back to the wall, picking up his coffee again to sip it. Sebastian carried over some of the sushi they had to him; he took it, looking almost grateful. Lili had to stifle a giggle, as she knew it was one of his soft spots.

That and sacher cake. She never asked, but she always found it rather cute.

She went back to her food, getting more coffee poured. The rest of the afternoon was fairly pleasant, but she sort of wanted to get going soon. She wanted to relax on her own for a bit; after all of this time talking business-as well as some personal life which tended to get her a bit guarded these days-it sort of took a bit out of her. She loved her father, and did enjoy getting to spend time with him; as they didn't really get to see as often as a parent might see their child. Sebastian was a second father to her for a reason. But they got used to it.

Looking out the window a moment, she stretched.

At least I didn't slip up...hopefully the next lunch goes just as smoothly.

She did catch herself looking at a few things she maybe shouldn't have been, after all.

–

Sergei was heading down to the garage; he had already let Lili know that she was welcome to come along, especially given her part in capturing the three syndicate members. He was going to meet with Lei tonight at the place they did the first time Lili had met him; he knew that place was secure and safe. The other bar had been closed down by Interpol in an investigation, though he didn't know what had become of anyone else involved, like the bartender or owner of the place, whoever that had been. He wondered if the owner even knew that the bartender had clearly been on the take...or perhaps afraid for his life.

He wore his oilcoat-it was raining hard all over again-and carried an extra pack of cigarettes with him, since he planned on spending some time there tonight. The rough fabric of the coat was scratchy against his bare arms, but it didn't bother him. He was healing nicely from the incident; he had seen a doctor on the down-low and ensured nothing was infected from whatever dirty instruments they had attacked him with. The doctor seemed rather frightened the entire time he was examining him, but his military ID told him at least some of what he needed to know.

Sergei was glad Lili wanted to come along; he knew she wanted some of her own time, but he also knew how she liked to occasionally visit places that weren't high class. He also wanted to see how she was holding up, as she knew Terrence's death sort of affected her, even though she barely knew him.

He stepped outside next to the garage, lighting a cigarette as he stood under the awning. He watched the rain fall and the odd car go by; they were in such a nice part of the city-the nicest, to be sure-there wasn't a whole lot of traffic. Checking his phone, he saw Lili was on her way down; he crushed out his smoke and went inside, heading toward his jeep. He knew Lili would meet him in there discreetly.

Sure enough, as he sat inside-playing his usual favorite driving music-Lili climbed in the side door and locked it. She had her own raincoat pulled around her.

"Why is it so cold this time of year?" she grumbled.

He shrugged, smirking. She was cute when she was grumpy at mundane things, he felt.

She smiled back at him, unable to stay irritable. "We are going to the same place we did the first time, right?"

He nodded.

"I actually liked the food there. Don't tell anyone."

He smirked as he started the jeep, pulling out into the night. Her hand slid into his for a few moments to squeeze it; they separated, just in case.

–

Lili smiled when she stepped into the familiar place, this time not as damp as she was the first time, given the rain was only horrible rather than a total sheet of water coming down.

Lei had not arrived yet, but Sergei nodded to the familiar bartender, who waved them to the booth they would sit in. He also started preparing the coffee for them; a hand motion from Sergei let him know they'd be having the usual.

Her servants made pretty good mozzarella sticks when she requested them, but for some reason they couldn't make them as well as this greasy little bar could. She wasn't sure what it was, but there was almost a little feel of comfort in this place; maybe she thought, as she got older, she wanted to 'see more', so to speak, than her sort of sheltered life usually gave her.

She always had it with the street-fighting and all, and breaking away to steal off to tournaments...but she supposed it came out even more now the older she got.

They sat down after hanging up their coats; Lili had a loose blouse tied over her tank top, as her arms would get chilly now, which she thought was ridiculous this time of year on the east coast...but the weather seemed to feel differently about this matter.

Lili sat back to stare around at the dim lights; her eyes trailed over to the dartboard in the corner, being used by a couple of nondescript men. There were no windows in this place, given how it was nestled in the middle of a building, but on this sort of night, it gave the place a surprisingly cozy feel, rather than a cramped one.

The bartender brought two large cups of coffee-they both liked how big the mugs were here-as well as napkins. He stood to go back to the bar when they all heard the door open; they turned to see who it was.

Lei was there, shaking off his leather jacket. He nodded over to them, smiling and nodding in greeting.

"He seems okay," Sergei said.

Lili blinked, nodding. "His partner..." It still bothered her, of course, but she tried not to think too much about it.

He stopped by the bar to pick up a cup of coffee since the bartender had it fresh back there, and left an order with him before dropping into the seat next to Sergei. She had to giggle; seeing him next to Sergei was like night and day. He was perhaps her height and athletically built, especially for a man near fifty, but Sergei was a walking tank next to him.

"Good news," Lei started. He knew Sergei was not one for small talk. "We managed to interrogate the three you captured. We picked up some arms and caught one more person. None of the military...but we managed to get four total. Plus the bartender and owner of the establishment were taken in for aiding, though they talked very quickly, once we offered them protection."

Sergei nodded. "She was the one who caught them."

Lei blinked. "Really?"

She nodded. "I was there. He went to deal with the...warehouse. I can fight, and I didn't want them to ambush him..."

Sergei smirked. "I had enough trouble in there."

"We managed to...clean up." Lei was mostly a clean cop. His old partner-who was now nigh-on insane and gods knew where in the world-had gotten caught being dirty. Yet...the part of him that sort of blamed himself partially for the mess-sticking to the rules had ended up with him dead, after all, where if he had been alive he may have perhaps been able to get through to him-ended up occasionally looking the other way with things now. Nothing that would get innocents hurt, but sometimes if something needed to under the table for the greater good, he was willing to bend.

This was one of those times. For one, Sergei was on a mission, and as a soldier, if men tried to kill him, he was legally able to fight back with lethal force. The manner in which he did this was frankly terrifying, but it was what it was. It was clear, due to his injuries...and the horrible state his partner had been left in, they were not interested in negotiation.

Lei had simply said the men were dealt with.

Lili spoke up again. "How...are you?" She was grateful when the bartender brought the enormous basket of greasy fare they ordered. She took a mozzarella stick, dipped it in the sauce, and took a decent sized-but neat-bite. It felt nice to her stomach; she hadn't eaten since the early lunch, and the food was welcome.

He sighed deeply, sipping his coffee. "Fine. I...should have known, but I couldn't stop him. I tried to tell him what he was getting into; he insisted. He went to our superior and begged to be put in undercover." He adjusted his wristwatch. "I had a feeling he wasn't quite ready. He had over two years of good military experience and came with excellent reports. He was excellent at subterfuge. Yet...he was...idealistic."

Sergei nodded. He had seen several types like that buried in his time.

"Idealistic and...at the end, he must have gotten sloppy. We don't know exactly how they found out, but in his findings-which we do have-I suppose he left a thread open that one of the more prudent-and experienced-members had found." He turned toward Lili. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

Lili could only nod. I've seen Sergei kill about three dozen men with his bare hands over the time that I've known him...and it was not clean. Snapped limbs, broken necks, bones sticking out, skulls crushed on the ground-with all that entails-without him blinking. He even tortured a man for my benefit, apparently.

What was in there was different, though.

He wasn't one of the bad guys. He was my age.

It could have been me if I had gotten too involved with things...

She shook her head, grabbing more food. Her appetite had finally come back; it hadn't been particularly strong the past couple of weeks, given everything that had happened. She was not traumatized, but the events did rattle her a little.

"But still...good job capturing them. They had quite a few bumps on them."

She smirked. "I'm not sure if that was all me." She did recall Sergei booting them a few times on the ground. "I'm happy you could get something from it."

"Indeed we did. I only hope we can continue on."

Sergei looked at him, grabbing a stick himself. Lili could tell he seemed to pretend he didn't care what he was eating, but in truth she could tell he liked it a lot. "Will you send more undercover?"

"Well, we might...though this time I'm going to insist to the superior they send someone with years of experience." He sighed. "It can always go wrong, of course...but..." He sipped more coffee. "It's a much better chance. Plus we'll give them slightly different directives. Also..." He coughed. " We found several Russian-manufactured arms."

Sergei smirked. "AKs."

"Indeed."

Lili smiled, remembering when she shot Sergei's at the range. She wasn't too fond of the burst-fire and wasn't bracing it correctly. The semi-automatic fire wasn't too bad, though. She didn't dare try it on full-autofire. "I guess they're popular?"

Lei nodded. "Tough, easy to use, powerful, not hard to get. They're popular with criminal syndicates who wish to have heavier weaponry."

"Given they money the syndicates pay...more than one member of the military has been tempted over the years." He lit a cigarette. The bartender didn't seem to care that anyone smoked. He drained his coffee, motioning for more as he grabbed a handful of the food on the table. Lili thought it was a miracle he didn't take the entire basket in one swipe.

"We can't get them all off the streets," Lei continued, "But we can try to bring down the bigger players."

Lili grabbed another stick, starting to ponder dessert. She was quite proud of what she did; her hog-tying of the three men resulted in successful questioning. She could tell how Sergei looked at her when he told that he was proud as well...and glad.

He would have most likely killed them if he had gotten ahold of them. He was not told to leave anyone alive, and after what had happened to Lei's partner, he had not been feeling particularly charitable.

Generally speaking, if Sergei was fighting people out to kill, one did well to tell him who he needed to leave alive and who he did not, if they needed people. Otherwise they tended to default to 'dead.' It had gotten him in mild trouble a few times-he followed orders, yes, but there were a few times where he turned what could have been a fairly clean mission a bit messy.

He had gotten better over the years. He was not indiscriminate in his killing. He would never kill a non-target who was surrendering in front of him without very good reason. Civilians were off limits; indeed, he killed a couple of his own men for harming them in the past.

But combat was a life or death situation, and enemies left alive were enemies that could kill him or his men.

Or in the case of the Rocheforts, his charges.

And the one person whom he could say he actually loved, but could never say it aloud.

He shook his head, drinking the fresh coffee that was bought, and looking over the menu. He was quite hungry today for some reason. It was probably the unhealthy, greasy bar fare that seemed to serve more as a past-time than actual sustenance.

The three sat in silence for awhile, simply going between the food-onion rings and french fries were added-drinking coffee, and Sergei going through a couple of cigarettes. Lili occasionally checked her phone to see if she had to adjust her calendar for anything school related, and she would check the weather; it seemed the storm that was on its way would be hitting soon. The rain beating on the side of the building told her it was probably almost there.

This place felt cozy, though. Small, shut-in, with no windows...it may have felt claustrophobic during the day, but on a bad night like this, it was a relief.

Lei finally spoke up. "Again, thanks. If I can continue to help, you let me know."

Sergei nodded. "If you hear anything about our men."

He stood. "Of course. We'll meet up again soon, and I will be in contact." He held his hand out to the both of them, one right after the other, giving each a firm shake. "I have to get going. Here. I can..." he started to take out his wallet.

Lili burst out laughing. "Mr. Wulong..."

"Lei, please." He smiled.

"Lei." She giggled. "You do know who I am."

He blinked. "Thank you." He recognized that Lili would be picking up the tab. He smiled again, turning to head out, pulling his poncho back over himself as he walked out the door.

The bartender came over after a few moments. "Who ordered the chocolate cake?"

Sergei nodded once, stuffing out his cigarette and holding out his hand, motioning with his fingers. The man quickly handed it over, as he was not sure what the response would have been if he had kept the chocolate sustenance from the huge, glowering man in the corner.

Lili leaned her head down, stifling laughter.

I think things are going to be okay...

–

Lili quietly unlocked the door to her home away from home, turning as she heard the elevator ding.

Sebastian got off of it, nodding in her direction. He smiled. She returned it.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"I was going to ask the same," he said. "You have seemed a bit distant lately."

"Oh?" Better tread carefully. I think talking to Dad earlier took a lot out of me. "I'm fine, really. A bit busy with everything."

"I understand. You're still young. Don't overwork yourself yet." He chuckled. "I shouldn't have to lecture you on that like I do your father for another few years."

She smiled. Lili was always comfortable around him, and he wasn't pressuring her or anything of that nature. She was more a little on the guarded side given how she had to have an entire discussion with her father about aspects of her life with Sergei standing about ten feet away the entire time, and having to keep a straight face during the entire thing.

I ought to pick up poker some day. I might be pretty good at it.

"No, I've been taking time off. Talking to my friends. Exercising. Going to clubs." Going to seedy bars as well, and I have a pretty good release system on top of all of that...she had to stop that train of thought before she started to giggle in front of him. "I love New York." This was the truth.

"It's a busy place, to be certain. Was different forty years ago. Still busy, of course, but different." He had traveled to New York City many times, having worked for the Rocheforts since he was a young man. "Your grandfather quite liked it here. He considered moving at one point, but thought differently after awhile."

She smirked as she leaned against the wall. "Grandpa almost moved the company?"

He nodded. "He decided to keep it in Europe, though. It's seemed to work out just fine."

"I'm glad." She supposed there would have been even more issues being in the US...and they likely wouldn't have had the help of a certain Russian bodyguard when they really needed him. She stretched out.

"I'm sorry to keep you," Sebastian said, smiling. "I'll bring tea later."

"Thanks. It's never a problem. And I'm fine. Really. Just a lot going on." He will always worry about me. I guess I'm lucky to have so many people who do care.

"Til then." He bowed, heading back down. Lili let herself in the room, exhaling. She was nicely full of greasy bar food and coffee...and that chocolate cake they had was fairly tasty as well. It wasn't Sergei's favorite-sacher cake-but it worked pretty nicely for bar fare.

She thought perhaps some rest alone would do her well. She walked over, pushing her very comfy and favorite plush recliner near the window, cracking it ever so lightly. The wind was absolutely furious, and it was almost chilly, especially up this high...but it was somehow relaxing.

It surprised her how well she was able to put the past week behind her. She was still disturbed of what happened, but she knew there was no real erasing of the past; one just had to move on. She had helped out-without even being sneaky about it, either. She was both glad-and proud-of that. Sergei had that look of fierce pride in his eyes when he had heard the results of Lei's findings, which moved everything along at least a little bit. It didn't fix everything, but it helped.

I think I might pass on the crime-fighting bit, but I'll help when I can.

Lili heard the knock some time later; she knew from the sound it was Sebastian bringing her tea. She would be alone this night-Sergei had work to do-but it was nice to get some time alone, though she hoped this would not last too long, as their time had still been shorter than she would have liked.

Sebastian set her up a cup and nodded; he turned to leave her be. As she carried it over to the window to watch the storm brewing all over again, she looked out over the massive city, feeling quite at home finally, moreso than she had in a long time.


	41. Chapter 41

"The top floor is ready, my lady."

Sebastian stood at the door dressed in his perfectly pressed suit as he always was; Lili always wondered how he could keep it so perfect, regardless of what he seemed to do around. She smiled at the old man-her second father, really.

"Thank you."

"This weather is frightful. Dare I say I miss Monaco, though I understand we will be busy here for awhile."

"I can fit in anywhere. But you know how I like it here." It was true; she felt like she had so much more to do here. She still lived in total luxury-New York City had immense and lovely penthouses, and the Rocheforts had an entire building. She did miss aspects of the mansion when she was away from it-it was her home, to be sure-but she enjoyed the hustle. She liked her busier schedule, in a way; it kept her mind off of some of the more unpleasant things that had happened.

But she also had to agree; this weather was almost scary.

It was August at this point, a month having passed since the incident at the warehouse. The storms had actually started to clear, but the weather grew unseasonably cool and damp again after a short time. More rain blew in only this time it was at least fifteen degrees cooler than it should have been. She needed her jacket at night and even Sergei threw on one of his lighter longcoats. When the wind blew it actually made her shiver.

But things looked up when they fixed up the fireplace on the top floor for her.

The top floor of her penthouse was quite stunning; it was almost like a huge study. The shelves were filled with books, most of which she hadn't had the chance to go through yet. She was usually too busy to read classic books these days, though she had taken to occasionally picking one up, much like Sergei would.

It included a stone wall with a fireplace, with a pipe that lead off to the outside of the high-rise. It was checked and cleaned vigorously; it was perfectly safe, as the entire room was set mostly in stone. The wall it was on was close to the outside; the smoke literally had nowhere else to go but out. It naturally had a few failsafes as well. It was, in its essence, a vanity piece for the filthy rich.

Sometimes, it's great being rich.

Who am I kidding? It's always great.

Lili chuckled to herself as she milled about, placing a few of her things about and thinking over what she would read tonight. She planned on relaxing.

Sebastian noticed her. "Am I finished?"

She nodded, smiling at the large pot of coffee and plate of rather sinful-looking baked goods brought to her. "You can go. I'd like to be alone tonight."

"As you will. Enjoy your night, my lady."

He bowed, letting himself out.

Oh, I will. He should be here shortly, I imagine.

She said she wanted time alone, and she wasn't lying; she suspected she would be alone for about a half hour. What she really wanted, of course, was more time with Sergei finally-after the incident a month ago, they hadn't gotten to see nearly as much as she'd have liked. The disturbing events in her past did still bother her somewhat, and she missed his touch; the release he offered her. It was more than just sexual, of course.

She poured a cup of the strong coffee, adding a tiny bit of vodka to it. Sergei had turned her on to the taste. It would both perk her up and relax her at the same time...which would be perfect for a late night.

She stood to walk over to the fireplace; it was quite nicely going now. It warmed the mostly-stone room of the study; she suspected whoever had built this living arrangement had been eccentric and older; they wanted a study on the top floor, and they got it, along with the fireplace that could have been dangerous in any other situation. It was probably insulated all around with gods knew what, though she didn't bother thinking about it.

Looking over at the furniture, it was all naturally very fine; some had come with the place, some had been purchased by her father to outfit the place before she got here. She touched the smooth wood; it was polished to a sheen, a rich reddish-brown color. She slid one of the coasters over to place the cup on it after taking another drink, turning back around to look toward the door.

Almost on cue, a knock appeared.

The time passed much more quickly than I thought it would.

She walked over, letting Sergei in; she knew it was him as she knew his heavy knock. He smirked at her, looking around the study before looking back down. He gently traced his hand over her face, enjoying the feel of her skin again.

Lili missed his touch too; she was someone who was usually pampered, but the familiar touch of his battle-hardened hand on her cheek always relaxed her quicker than any silks ever could.

Two years almost. We've been doing this for two years. What are we, even?

She didn't know, and neither did he; but neither even discussed it. She found her arms sliding around his muscular neck as she jumped up; he caught her easily as always before she pressed her lips to his quickly. He felt the same, sliding his tongue gently between her lips. Whatever had happened, they wanted their release.

Snapping her legs around his waist to squeeze-she loved how he would moan low she she did that, she kept the kiss going as she felt one huge hand slide down her back as his breathing intensified. She could feel him pressing against the rough fabric of his fatigue trousers; just knowing how turned on he was already made he squirm a bit in his arms as the kiss broke. He was wearing the ones with the straps and buckles; almost looking casual...but still functional.

The ones she found incredibly hot.

"Over there."

Sergei nodded, carrying her over to the middle of the study; they were close enough to the fire that being naked here would not matter, and the carpet on the floor was rather nice. She looked around for a blanket; she did not know where one was at the moment, but she lost her train of thought as she felt him kiss and nip down her neck, around to her throat.

They could worry about that later, she figured.

His touch had that hungry feel to it again, and the low growl in his throat as he dragged his lips and tongue over her skin told her anything she needed to know.

Looking over her for a moment after he pulled back, he smiled softly and pushed her by the wall. He was wasting no time; he began to slide her jeans off, leaving the usual tight, shapely tank top she liked to wear around the house on. He took his own off and threw his huge boots aside; he knelt in front of her again to kiss her deeply.

She pulled back to look at him, tracing a finger over his mouth as he licked the tip of it quickly, teasing her. He flicked his tongue over it a moment longer before kneeling down more to nuzzle at her stomach, sliding off her underwear in the process.

The only sounds in the large room were their breathing and the fire; for her, it sounded...almost like comfort. She shivered at his breath on her stomach as he kissed her slowly. She considered laying down, but liked how things felt when she stood; he was usually able to sit to get himself into a good position rather easily.

He was close to her midsection now; where he wanted to be. He wondered how long she could last tonight. She would be sensitive, he knew...but that might make things all the better.

Sliding down, he paused to lightly kiss her mound, leaning in to part her with his tongue, rubbing it back and forth, teasing her lightly. He missed her taste, her moans, and the way she would slide her hands into his hair as she stood there. He signed as he continued to tease her slowly.

She looked down at him, sliding her leg over him a moment, giving him better access which he immediately took advantage of as she squealed. She stroked his thick hair, rubbing the back of his head as she felt his tongue working furiously all around her now-soaked center. The small smile on here face said most of what was on her mind, as did her heavy lidded eyes. She glanced down again to enjoy the sight of how content he seemed at the moment.

He could feel her getting wobbly from his pleasure; he stopped for a brief moment-after sucking at her for just a little longer-before putting her right on the floor. He looked for something for her to rest he head on for a moment-a pillow, perhaps-only to have her start to pull him back down.

It was pretty clear she didn't need the pillow right now.

He smirked, delving back in. He had no problem with this; he was more than comfortable in this particular area right now. He held back just a little to slowly stroke her with his tongue for awhile, flicking it over her, making sure he held back just enough that he didn't let her push him into her...which, of course, drove her mad since he was controlling what she got at the moment. He glanced up at her a split second, watching as she bit her lip and continued to rub the back of his head.

Her thoughts came back and forth; mostly she concentrated on his pleasure...and his teasing. He was doing both right now; his teasing felt incredible, but it was starting to get pretty bad. She squirmed, a soft smile on her lips as she felt him finally push his mouth toward her again and his tongue slide deeply inside of her.

She often had those moments where she was grateful he loved doing this as much as he did.

He pushed forward again and she moaned softly as she felt him suck gently at her clit; speeding up and getting rougher as he felt her begin to tremble; a few more flicks of his tongue and she cried out softly in pleasure, wrapping her legs tight as he enjoyed her orgasm. He stayed for some moments longer before pulling back to kiss her thighs, licking his very wet lips as he turned her around.

Lili started to shriek as she clapped a hand over her mouth as he began to tease her from behind for a short while; she could hear him chuckle softly at her reaction.

He has to surprise me...

Her thoughts didn't last long as he teased her lightly; his tongue sometimes going forward to dip into her center, bringing some of the wetness back, His hands massaged her rear as he used this time to drive her a bit mad; he knew how much he could tease her like this, just getting her to want him to go back to her clit again.

He knew she was extremely sensitive right now, too.

It was all the better for teasing her. He quite liked his position here, too; he was not afraid to be as intimate as one could be with Lili. He relished the moments he got with her, even if they were sometimes quick.

Teasing her some more, flicking his tongue up and down as his hands slid down her thighs, he dipped low to stroke near her clit again with his tongue, rubbing it lightly with the tip.

Lili squealed softly and quivered; she leaned forward low enough to rest her head against the thick carpet, her hands grasping at it as Sergei teased her mercilessly. It felt so good, yet drove her insane at the same time. She wanted to orgasm again; she could feel it building up, but she knew he wouldn't bring her over quite yet.

After teasing her some more-flicking his tongue back and forth a few more times-Sergei rolled her back over to go back down between her legs, swirling his tongue around her clit slowly as she gasped louder. She very much liked the way he would handle her sometimes-the size difference, and everything. He was somewhat rough, but in a very pleasant way; she would often be just a little achy after these sessions, but she always felt safe. It played on the fact she loved his strength and what he could do with it.

What is he doing to me, she thought as he continued to tease her.

He pushed closer, sucking harder and faster as he flicked his tongue against her more and more; she felt herself about to come again as she arched her back, crying out as the waves of pleasure went through her body-and quickly biting her lip to stifle it. A bit of sweat beaded on her forehead; they were a little close to the fire still. After Sergei finished licking her, he sat up a moment, tracing his hand over her stomach. He settled down again, leaning his head against her leg, absently continuing to stroke her skin with one hand.

She fingered his hair, brushing some of it aside. She could feel the wetness on his chin against her body, causing her to giggle. She then sat up, looking down at him as he rolled over, licking his lips.

She grinned. "Stand up." She nodded toward the wall.

He smiled, following her orders. She pushed him there, standing up to kiss him lightly on the mouth as her hands traced down his stomach and to his trousers where she freed him; she wanted to get him as he stood by the wall. He smirked down at her, realizing right away what she was planning. He settled back, bringing himself down a bit as he leaned there, exhaling deeply as she began to tease the head of his member with her tongue.

She looked up as he gently started to stroke her hair, his head leaning against the wall; his eyes were closed.

Just the way she liked to see him.

Lili teased underneath of him with her slim fingers as she took him deeply into her mouth, starting out slow, wanting to tease him some. His low moan sounded incredibly sexy to her ears; it wasn't any sort of exaggerated sound, just a natural, soft moan...but his voice could always get her. That and the way his huge hands would caress her hair and head; it was gentle, despite the intense pleasure he was feeling.

She sucked him slowly, wanting this to last; she wanted to perhaps go into some mutual pleasure after this, which she knew he would be up for. She knew Sergei incredibly well, and she knew even if he was utterly tired and worn out, if he saw an opportunity for more fun, he would reciprocate with amazing speed.

Running her hands up and down his legs, she enjoyed the muscle, as always. She had always been a little taller than average-her five-foot eight was not immense, though her shoes would often boost her a little more-the times she had dated guys, they were perhaps around her height, maybe around six foot. Sergei made her appreciate a much bigger man, and she knew there wouldn't be any going back from it.

Sergei grunted again, leaning his head forward to watch her a few moments, his slightly sweaty hair hanging down around his face. He smirked, rubbing her head gently as she took him deeply into her mouth, sucking even harder. He held on; he was doing quite well still, though licking his lips again, the faint taste of her remained enough that it certainly didn't make it easier.

The fire crackled in the background, and the room was quite comfortable, now. The wind screamed against the windows, even rattling them; and Sergei looked aside long enough to see large drops smack the windows; massive ones, to be sure. He didn't care though; he grit his teeth and moaned when he felt her tease the head with her tongue again, swirling it around. Her tongue would go a little low now and then causing a louder grunt which amused her to no end.

Lili then stood, walking back over; he smirked again, going to sit down as she pushed him over.

His smirk turned evil when she took her position on top of him, her legs toward his head. They were not right in front of the fire, but more off to the side; it was a little more comfortable there. Sergei wasted no time sliding his tongue right up inside of her again, thrusting quickly as she squealed; she was barely able to get him back into her mouth from the distraction.

It was always great to have full access.

She focused a moment to concentrate again; she took him slowly into her mouth, sucking on the way down as she teased him underneath with her fingers again, occasionally going back a little far, listening to the sounds he made and smiling to herself. She squealed again as she felt him gently running his tongue up and down the full length of her folds; she was probably going to come soon again herself.

Quickly she slid her hand even lower and did some heavier teasing with her fingers; she took him as deeply as she could at the same time, sucking rather hard-about as much as he could take. She tried not to giggle at the low moan that came out of him; he had to actually slow down a few moments from his teasing.

It was her turn to squeal when she felt him press himself harder into her, his head moving rhythmically with her hips as he sucked her clit harder, trying to bring her over. It didn't take her long; she quivered and let go again finally as he swallowed; he took his time, licking her slowly up and down as she came. He ran his nails down her back lightly as he did this, feeling her body shiver every so often.

When he was finished, sparing her a few kisses, she rolled off of him, panting; he slowly started to stand. She nodded over to the wall.

He smirked. He stood against it, allowing the warmth of the fire to hit him for a moment; he pulled his trousers the rest of the way down and removed them as he prepared himself as she walked over. He licked his lips; she could tell how wet his mouth was. He brought a hand up to touch his face with two fingers quickly. She chuckled.

He would never use dirty talk...thankfully.

But he's not above making a dirty gesture now and again.

He reached down to pick her up; she squeezed his waist with her legs and settled down on him. Rather than begin immediately, she stayed; her arms around his neck, her forehead pressed against his. He kissed her lightly on the mouth, several times...before deepening it as she stayed on him, enjoying the feeling of him being inside of her. They broke apart as he leaned by the wall enough for her to begin moving up against him as he met her with thrusts.

Sex with Sergei was always wonderful to Lili...well, anything was. But there were some times where it felt even better...and more than physically.

This was one of those times.

She tightened her legs enough so she could maneuver on him; she kept matching his rhythm, moving faster on him, moaning every time she came down. This position gave rather deep penetration, after all. Her nails raked down his back with more force than usual as she bit at his shoulder.

He growled low, meeting her in a kiss again, sucking at her lower lip rather roughly before running his own nails down her back-they were trimmed, but she could feel them just enough. He nipped at her skin, albeit gently enough to not leave marks, even though both of them wanted him to go harder with that.

After a few more moments, he tensed and came; holding her tightly as she continued to ride him standing, waiting for him to finish. Panting slightly he set her down, leaning back against the wall. He looked down at her, a slight smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth.

She leaned into him, sliding her arms around his chest as she rest her head on him. He stroked her hair with one huge hand. She looked up after a time.

"We should shower soon. Need to get dressed. They might come up here asking us if we want something."

He nodded. He knew this wasn't her usual room. He started walking toward the big bathroom, which luckily contained a shower.

I would not want to explain our condition if we had to head out without one...

–

The two sat on the room's large, soft couch as they listened to the wind rattle the windows almost alarmingly. It made the fire feel all the better. Sergei had added another log to it.

"Never thought I'd enjoy a fire in the summer." She chuckled, laying off to the corner of the couch, watching him have his usual cigarette. "Never thought I'd see a summer where I'd want a fire." She had one, of course, back at the manor-more than one-but they never used it in anything but the late fall or winter.

He chuckled. He was fully dressed again-well, his trousers, boots, and tank top, simply what he came in with. Lili was as well; since they weren't on her floor, they did not want to risk someone poking in with them half-dressed. They would knock, she knew, but they wouldn't be able to get dressed in time. They would be able to arrange in more 'innocent' positions, however, fairly quickly.

They did a fairly good job cleaning up the carpet, she thought.

"Can you stay tonight?" She looked out the window as more large raindrops slammed against it.

"Yes." He touched her face.

"We haven't had as much this time," she said, sadly. "Hopefully we will."

"Probably. I'll probably spend more time around here. With you. Bodyguarding and such, what with your father gone again." Mr. Rochefort had come back for perhaps a week before leaving again on another trip; this one for about three weeks.

"Training a bit?"

He smirked. "Of course. Though you've seemed to be doing fine so far."

She smiled proudly.

They didn't say much else for awhile. Sergei had his arms around her as she lay across him; he looked out the window, watching the massive drops slam on it. It sounded rather soothing, and the room was very comfortable; the fire seemed to burn out some of the wet feeling in the air. He had a pleasant feeling in his loins, as he hadn't had a proper release in a bit too long...nor had he gotten to enjoy the other aspects like pleasuring her, which he managed to do for a rather long time tonight.

"I hope you can catch who you need to soon. I mean it's important to you, I know. But I miss you." She said it plainly.

He only nodded. He pulled her closer and kissed her; deeply and with that...stronger feeling that she would sometimes sense from his actions. It was clear that he often did not know what to say in these situations, so he just let his actions speak for him. Returning it-she could remember the first night they kissed, right in her room. She found herself thinking back to it from time to time.

Even before that, she remembered that time on the back porch, when she was there-shaken and a little frightened, even-as much as she hated to admit it-and she had been shocked beyond anything that the hardened man that had just killed several men in their yard had such a gentle touch to him when he stroked her face in comfort.

She had no idea why she would flash back to things nearly two years ago at this point, but she did.

The kiss broke-though Sergei added several more before breaking away. He looked over at the door. Lili smirked at him.

"You want to lock it?"

He nodded.

"I could call up for things and then say I wish not to be disturbed. They wouldn't even see you here."

He smiled at that. He stood off to the side; the room was massive, so he was easily able to take a spot among the big bookshelves. He began to comb through the books, looking to see if something interested him.

Lili proceeded to call down, ordering a second large pot of coffee, among other things; she said that she planned on working late in here tonight, and to please not disturb her or allow anyone else to disturb her. When she got off the line she went over to where Sergei was sitting on one if the fine old chairs, flipping through an old leather-covered book. She guessed it was some sort of war-oriented book.

"I'll let you know when everything gets here."

He smirked up at her, putting the book off to the side. He clearly wanted more physical contact with her tonight to make up for lost time.

Lili went back to his lap, feeling completely content for the first time in awhile. She had no idea how long it would last-neither of them did-but she had decided the moment was more important than the future.

She figured if she worried too much about the future she would waste the potential quality time they could be spending now.

Though she thought it might be a good idea to wait until her servants came and went, first.

Priorities.

We have to remember priorities.

She may have fallen asleep for awhile before she felt the doorbell; as she stood, walking sleepily-and satisfied-to the door, she watched Sergei walk off to the bookshelves.

Perhaps after some refueling she could find a second wind...


	42. Chapter 42

A Soldier's Duty Fenris30

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Summary:

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Sergei Dragunov-a Spetsnaz whose very presence inspires fear around him-gets hired for one of his more interesting jobs. He has performed assassinations of all sorts, taken part in a countless number of successful missions, and has a kill count so high that even his superiors would never cross him in combat. Getting the job of guarding a near-eighteen-year old heiress named Lili Rochefort for an entire summer is not something that he would guess he'd ever be hired to do. But, Sergei being Sergei, he plans on doing this job to the best of his ability, like all the rest...

One-shot short prequel to Reticent Watcher. Goes with 'An Heiress' Life.'

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Notes:

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A sort of 'speed-write', so this has minimal editing; just mostly proofing, spellchecking, and the like.

So the idea behind these stories are quick one-shots of how they ended up in their original situation at the beginning of Reticent Watcher. As people know the basic idea of Rochefort Enterprises dealing with the Russian Military and getting Sergei as a bodyguard, I thought it might be fun to do a couple of short PoV pieces, in the vein of 'Watcher's Return' and 'Maybe One Day', showcasing what went on behind the scenes.

For the record-I don't plan on doing these for every bit of downtime. I like to leave some things to the imagination, after all. But I felt these would be neat!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

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He wound back, his fist striking the smaller man in the side of the head in a vicious haymaker; as he went to his knees, he clenched his huge hands together, greeting him with a powerful axe handle before he could stand. The man hit the ground with a muffled grunt, turning his head to the side just long enough for him to slam his enormous boot down onto the side of his head.

The man on the ground moaned. He had gotten one good hit in, he thought to himself through a daze. His stomach had contorted for a short moment when he felt the boot-heel hit the side of his head; he knew-had he been on his opponent's bad side-things would have gotten incredibly messy. He figured the sick feeling in the pit of his gut was a very mild version of what one of his enemies may have felt in that split second before he caved their head in.

It was not a nice feeling.

Sergei let the man up and spit a line of red onto the mat...which was stained with blood. It looked horrible, but it actually was not that bad when you realized five men just used it for sparring, and bloodied noses or split lips tended to shed enough blood that things could look worse than they actually were. He brushed his sweaty hair back from his face. Fighting took effort, and the late May weather was already getting rather hot; it had to be around eighty already and it was rather early in the morning.

The smaller man sat back on his heels, rubbing his head. He would have a headache for sure tonight, between the three vicious blows he just took. He stood, shaking himself off. Sergei nodded to him. All four of the other men nursed bruises, bumps, and the aforementioned bloody noses and lips, but they felt better for it all the same. Training with Sergei made them better soldiers, they knew.

The military usually sent Sergei Dragunov to train with the men in hand to hand combat; given he was likely their best soldier and easily their best unarmed combatant, he was the ideal man for the job.

The men were wary around him...but respected him. There was always a bit of underlying fear, though.

His nickname was 'The White Angel of Death', and for good reason. He likely had a higher kill count than even higher ranked men...and most of them put together, at that, despite him being a couple years shy of thirty. What's more, most of these kills were likely with his bare hands, as they knew he used weapons only when necessary. He was skilled with them, and he would use any tools necessary for the job...but he was easily the most 'alive', for lack of a better word, when he was in close quarters with an enemy.

He was an officer himself; albeit of a lower rank, and still answered to others. Rumors were abound that he had apparently turned down promotions so he could keep his spot on the field, as going much higher would have put him in more of a tactical position. No one knew if these were true or not...they didn't ask.

They didn't ask anything, really. Sergei was an enigma. He was a very large man-standing a head over most of them, probably six and a half feet tall even without his massive boots on. He was freakishly pale, covered in scars and his eyes were unnaturally light; a pale, whitish-blue that seemed to gaze through someone if he glared at them.

He also rarely spoke. Only when he had to, and in as few words as possible. This did nothing to take away his downright menacing air. If anything, it just piled onto it.

Then there was the fact that he had what seemed to be a heightened strength and endurance; nobody really knew how or what, but he seemed to be able to do things above and beyond what even a man his size could usually do. It wasn't really something he showed off, unless it was ruining training bags and the chains they were attached to, or walking off the effects of a bullet wound to the shoulder until he could get it treated properly. But generally, if he went full force, it resulted in a whole lot of blood and an enemy that never lived to talk about it. No one really asked; they just appreciated that he was on their side.

But he was loyal, he followed his orders without question, and performed mission after mission with success. He would occasionally see some trouble...this usually came from when he did not get specific enough orders to leave certain enemies alive.

He tended to leave them in various states of ruin without specific instructions to spare them.

Civilians were off-limits, though. He had a strange sort of code that he would not harm any non-combatants if it could be helped. He had to order strikes at times, but in terms of his units, they were given specific instructions not to harm non combatants.

There had apparently been incidents where he killed insubordinate men.

He remained highly respected, though, through all of this. It was not only fear. In fact, so long as you followed orders and were not an enemy, one really had little to fear from him.

It didn't hurt to make sure some of the green soldiers learned discipline quickly, however.

Sergei nodded to them, dismissing them. They carried themselves off, wincing a bit but holding up. Sergei smirked; he felt they would do fine. He jumped out of the ring, his heavy frame hitting the concrete rather loudly as he went over to the chair to grab his tank top, the pack of cigarettes he left there, and his lighter; he drank some water from a canteen on the chair before stepping outside into the morning sun.

Naturally on a military base the day started early; training started about an hour after eating. It was around nine now, and Sergei had a bit of time to relax before getting in the showers. He had a meeting in the early afternoon, apparently to get a new mission; he didn't know much about it except he would be staying elsewhere for awhile and it was a rather long-serving one. He was quite curious. He would do any missions-everything from scouting to guard duty to assassinations-it was all the same to him.

He scratched at a bit of dried blood on the leg of his fatigues; probably when he cracked one of the trainees with a harder-than-normal strike. He held back, naturally-he wanted them good, not dead. He actually thought those four would make for decent soldiers. They were fairly new, he was told, but they seemed to behave well and were fairly skilled for their ages, which he would put at perhaps barely twenty. They had been here about six months now.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, pushing back his long hair; it was going to be hot today, if the morning was already like this. He wondered what this summer would bring. At least the main barracks were nicely air conditioned, but he was able to handle about any sort of weather. It didn't bother him, even though he did have a preference for cooler days.

Finishing his cigarette, he kicked it out on the ground and went back inside and headed toward the showers. He would see soon where his mission would send him this time.

–

Sergei looked over the folder his superior handed him. The officer was a graying man of about fifty, though quite a bit smaller than Sergei. Like many of his rank, he did not do much field work these days, but was still an incredible tactician. Sergei trusted when he said things.

He wore his field outfit; he usually dealt with his officers in his dress wear, but he was due out for another training exercise. Besides his combat boots and cargos, he wore a heavy combat vest, made to carry many items for the field. He wore little else, given the heat he would be going out into.

Blinking, he flipped through the folder slowly. He recognized the name.

Rochefort. The tournament.

Sergei had taken part in the last two King of Iron Fist tournaments, though he was still not able to reach his goal. He was undefeated, but something always managed to go wrong at the wrong time. When dealing with the supernatural, this tended to happen. Something would always get in the way of everything. He made two allies, though-for him, this was a rarity. They could even be called personal allies.

Thinking back, he remembered the Rochefort girl faintly; to his memory, she was young and brash, yet still refined and polite. She was defeated, but did fairly well with her raw style, obviously self trained. He never actually crossed paths with her, though. Anyone he was not put up against tended to steer a wide berth around him. Given that Sergei generally did not like a lot of company, he was fine with this.

"I guard her?" he asked.

"Yes," the man replied. "It is a long mission, however. Until the late fall."

He blinked. "My duties?"

"We will call you back if you are needed." He cleared his throat. "Rochefort Enterprises deals in oil. We made a deal with them recently. We will be well-supplied for anything we need. He also attached a fairly large sum in order to secure some protection for his only daughter and heir."

"Is she in danger?"

"He isn't sure, he knows that the Zaibatsu has been interested in him and his company for a long time, though. He had trouble with them before...as do we, of course."

Sergei nodded once. Mutual interests. It all ties together.

"So I guard her, and deal with any Zaibatsu who come my way."

"Exactly," the man replied. "It is of mutual benefit to us all. We have a common enemy, we have a need, and he has a need. The amount of money offered...I felt it only proper to send you." He paced around the office, adjusting a painting on the wall. "I know you, of all of my men, can deal with any Mishima Zaibatsu uprisings rather easily, as well." He paused. "The reason why I'm sending you is that while I could have sent several others...one is discreet. He liked the idea of fewer than more, and I know you alone are worth more men that would have been feasible to send."

"I will live there?"

"Yes, on their manor. It is quite lavish, I am told. You will have anything you need, on request. They do have training facilities."

"Does he not have guards?"

"He does. But he was concerned about their overall ability. Good for minor things...against trained enemies, he wasn't so sure."

Sergei just nodded. He didn't mind the sound of it. Training facilities, luxurious surroundings. If anything he was afraid he might be a bit bored. He wondered what the young lady would be like. He figured, at worst, he would have to deal with a near-eighteen-year-old who would get stubborn once in awhile.

"When do I leave?" he asked.

"Five days from now. We will summon you back if necessary, as said previously."

Sergei nodded, saluting. He turned and walked out, thinking about what would be ahead of him the next few months.

He wasn't joking. This place is...enormous.

It was the only word he could think of off the top of his head to describe the manor; enormous.

He sat in the back of the lavish limousine; Mr. Rochefort had his head chauffeur pick him up from the private airport, Sebastian-the loyal and longtime family butler-in tow. He had simply greeted him with a handshake and a nod; Sebastian had been told he was quiet. He had given him a basic rundown, but Mr. Rochefort would do the rest.

The limo pulled up to the front, and he slid out; grateful for a chance to stretch his legs. The limo was well air-conditioned, but the weather outside was hot; he wore his dress uniform, which was not particularly made for such weather. Long-sleeved button down shirt, brown jacket, tie, and slacks tucked into his huge pair of jackboots; he even wore his officer's cap, though his leather gloves were tucked into his belt. The servants came to get his bags, somewhat obviously wincing how heavy they were. He had four large ones, one of them holding things like his body armor and weaponry. The morning was partly sunny and rather humid.

He nodded to the chauffeur who opened the door and walked up the stairs to the main door, which he pushed open.

He didn't realize places like this existed. It looked more like one of the world's most extravagant hotel lobbies; a huge set of stairs going up the center and countless rooms going around. There were four floors and a basement level as far as he knew, though he believed the top floor was a bit smaller. He was told his room would be near Lili's for protection purposes.

A graying man of average height and slim build walked up, wearing a rather fine business suit. His hair was combed neatly off to the side, and a trim mustache adorned his face. He shook Sergei's hand firmly, though he looked a bit nervous gazing up at the massive man. Sebastian had mentioned he was a pacifist. Sergei hoped he was the right man for this job.

"Mr. Dragunov. Welcome. We'll go over your duties after you get settled, and after that we will take you on a tour of the manor. Sebastian will take you to your quarters."

Sergei simply nodded. Mr. Rochefort was told that this was a very, very quiet man. He only hoped Sergei would not mind his daughter's sometimes rather talkative nature.

"We have anything you need in the kitchen."

"Thank you," he said, nodding. He decided to take two of his own heaviest bags, after seeing the amount of work some of the servants went through with them. He followed Sebastian up to the second floor, down a lavish hallway, and past a door that had a few decorations on it, albeit rather expensive ones. Sebastian nodded toward it.

"Ms. Rocheforts," he said. Sergei nodded as they continued to the next one and entered.

It was enormous; it had a huge bed, a couch, recliner, tables, a desk, a balcony...everything he could want. His own massive bathroom. It was almost like a penthouse suite. He smirked slightly at everything as he put his things down. He took the bags from the other servants before they collapsed. They blinked as he seemed to handle them effortlessly.

"You may take your time," Sebastian said. "Let us know if you need anything."

Sergei nodded again, walking around the room to examine more things.

I suppose enjoying a bit of comfort is not necessarily a bad thing...

–

Sergei looked over the sprawling grounds as he stood on the balcony, smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of coffee. It was truly fine coffee; he had not drank any of this quality for a very, very long time, and he recalled that was only when he was guarding a diplomat. He could smoke outdoors, in his quarters, and in other specified rooms of the house; there were some that it was off limits. The study was fine, as Mr. Rochefort often enjoyed a pipe in there.

The grass was a perfect green, and everything was naturally perfectly tended. He knew a large and tough fence surrounded everything, but Mr. Rochefort truly supplied for his daughter, and he wanted the best personal protection his money could earn. Sergei had promised he would not be disappointed. Mr. Rochefort had told him

Sergei had changed into his tank top, cargoes, and combat boots; it was nice after being in his stuffy formal wear in this heat, even though it was getting close to evening. Some clouds seemed to be blowing in, possibly leading to a little bit of rain tonight, but the start of the sunset looked rather nice.

He stubbed out his cigarette in the elaborate ashtray and turned to walk inside. He saw a young woman-taller than average, dressed fairly casually in jeans, a tank top, and sneakers; all were of a very expensive brand though, he imagined. She had long, blond hair, blue eyes, and was shapely from years of dancing and a little martial arts snuck in on the side. He recognized her from the tournament, indeed. She was holding a large mug of something.

Ms. Rochefort, he thought. He walked in, bowing politely. She smiled.

"Mr. Dragunov?" she asked, looking both a bit nervous but also somewhat in awe of the guard her father had picked out for her. Her eyes traveled up and down his massive frame, seemingly checking out his collection of scars.

"Sergei," he said. He figured he would make her comfortable.

"Lili," she said. "Don't need to call me 'Ms. Rochefort,' like the rest of them do." She snorted.

Sergei smirked. He nodded silently. He bowed his head again, leaving her to whatever she had been planning to do.

He missed her smile and slight, but good-natured eyeroll.

He also didn't see her examining him-just a little-on the way out.

Should be an easy time, he thought.


	43. Chapter 43

An Heiress' Life Fenris30

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Summary:

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Lili's father, as usual, ends up a bit too protective of her; despite her proving that she could probably take care of herself if necessary. Having a bit more trouble with the Mishima Zaibatsu, Mr. Rochefort decides to hire on a much more skilled guard for his daughter. Lili has no idea what lies in store...

One-shot prequel to Reticent Watcher. Goes with 'A Soldier's Duty.' Also a sort of speed-write.

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Notes:

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And here we have the prequel story to Lili's PoV! Like the other one, it's a tame one-shot, just to give a little insight to both of their mindsets before the whole thing.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

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The summer was nicely planned out, or was getting there. It was the end of May, starting to get hot already, and she was going to be starting university in the fall, so she wanted to make the best of this.

Lili was making some of the more last-minute plans; while her entire summer would not be booked up, a decent bit of it later would be...or she had been planning on it.

Her father would be back from his business trip this morning-in fact, she figured he should be downstairs already-and she would talk over the rest of her plans with him. Naturally, she would not mention any of the little fighting tournaments that she had potentially lined up. They were small, in any case. She wanted to get better; she had people to get victories against.

She smirked, looking over her plans and getting dressed for the day; it would be rather warm. The summer seemed to be starting a bit earlier than usual this year. She chose jeans and a tank top with sneakers; she would be around the house today, so there was no need to dress up. She would sneak down to the training room later.

She nodded to Sebastian on her way down the lavish hallway that lead from her room. She was in the mood for some iced coffee; the air conditioning was perfect in the manor, and she planned on sitting in her room with a big glass of it, some snacks, and her laptop before training.

Sebastian stopped her in the hallway. "My lady," he started, bowing. He always greeted her in that way. Sebastian was her family's longtime butler-even serving her grandfather, and was much like a second father to her, with her mother long gone, and her father away on business often.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Your father would like to see you when he returns," he continued.

She frowned. "Is everything okay?"

He cleared his throat. "More Zaibatsu trouble. I fear he...might be wary to let you...go about like you had planned."

Lili sighed. "Oh, come on," she said, exasperated. "Can you tell me more?" She folder her arms. Damnit, I should have known this was going too easy. It was almost like I was expecting something to go wrong.

Sebastian knew that she would be very unhappy at this turn of events, but he figured that he could share a little more with her. He did feel badly about this.

"Well, the trouble is typical...some threats apparently had come through. But he cannot cancel his events, as he is meeting with some very important people. The company has been stabilizing quite nicely, and he would like to keep it that way." He coughed. "But he worries for you, of course. He had apparently decided to hire a guard."

"Another one?" she smirked slightly. Sebastian chuckled.

Her father-not liking the idea of her fighting, though he did acknowledge her scrappiness helped save her from a kidnapper-which to her amusement had trouble explaining to the authorities how he was knocked senseless by a fourteen year old dancer-he was a pacifist, and disliked her fighting. He knew he needed guards, and he knew they might have to deal with things...but he also didn't always trust his normal household guard to help with some of the more skilled enemies.

So he had hired more specialized bodyguards a few times. Most of these had always ended up boring, somewhat lame, and Lili had even thought she could take a few of them if pressed; the one sort of overweight middle-aged man was not exactly dangerous material, she thought. He was apparently quite good at firearms, which was probably a nice thing for that sort of work, but gods help him if some skilled assassin had gotten close to him. She sort of remembered him getting a little winded even walking up the stairs.

Lili was disappointed...but she loved her family, and figured that she could make a few plans under the radar anyway. Her summer plans weren't exactly anything substantial; it had mostly just been travel with some friends. She could still go around locally, her friends who were available could still come over.

Sebastian saw her clearly thinking things over. "He means well. You know that."

She sighed again. "I know."

"Your summer will still have plenty of openings for things to do. You won't be confined. It's just that he would rather you stay around here."

"I'll let him know you broke the news to me, then." She thought for a moment. "Did he put you up to this?"

"Not at all. I just figured since I saw you...I could let you know."

She smiled. "Thanks, I think." Stretching, she smiled slightly. "I might as well go to the study. I heard he's having more people over as soon as he returns."

"Indeed." He bowed to her, continuing on his way. She looked around, pulling her phone out.

She had a few disappointing messages to send to some friends.

–

"Dad?" she asked, walking into the study.

"Lili," he said, smiling. He had his glasses on the study table. One of the servants fixing a table of food. She guessed the man and the woman-dressed in business attire and holding glasses of wine-were the people he was meeting with. She had seen them in the downstairs lounge on the way to the study.

"Sebastian told me," she sighed. "Is the trouble...that bad?"

He sighed. "I figured he would." He put his glasses on, standing. "It's...it worries me. Nothing different from last time...threats, and so on...but after the kidnapping those years ago, I am not taking chances."

Lili stifled an eye roll. I dealt with a couple of them once myself. They're probably still in prison. Unless they're thinking of sending worse...I just think he worries too much.

He adjusted his shirt and tie. "I will be at the dinner meeting soon. The guard has arrived; he is being shown around right now. I'm sure you'll run into him later on."

"What's this man's name? Where does he even come from?"

"Sergei Dragunov. He's an officer in the Russian military. A Spetsnaz, to be exact." He coughed, looking a bit uncomfortable.

She blinked. This must be serious. "A...military? Russia? How did this even happen?" Lili was well-educated, and given she liked fighting, she read about martial arts from around the world. She was aware of the Spetsnaz somewhat, and thought one of their officers had to be serious, serious business.

He snorted laughter. "It's a long story, but to shorten it, we are in a deal with them. We have mutual enemies in the Zaibatsu, they pay well for oil, and I included a bit more to ensure you a skilled guard if necessary." He turned serious for a moment. "I fear the Zaibatsu may try more extreme methods. I wanted to have someone who I knew was skilled. Sebastian is still a good shot with a rifle and no slouch in combat but..."

Lili sighed. "I know. Older." She still thought her household guard would be fine, and that a few extra with her on vacation would have been fine, but she knew there was no use arguing here.

There was a little nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that perhaps her father was right this time, though.

"Lili, you know I..."

"Only want the best for me. I know. I was just looking forward to vacation this summer."

"Once this all passes, you will not have to worry as much."

"You mean you won't have to worry about me as much." She smirked.

He looked a bit guilty. "In any case, he is skilled and I trust you in his hands."

"Will I get to go out and about?"

"Of course. He is instructed to be as hands on-or hands off-as you wish. If you want him to sit at the table with you all, he will. If you want him to stand by the door, he will."

"That shouldn't be so bad, then."

"I need to meet with the people outside soon," he said, standing.

"I'll go off. I have messages to send." She sighed again.

"Remember, you can still go out and about." He touched under her chin, and smiled at her before he left.

She stood in the study, looking about.

I think I need some training time...

She was glad the meeting with her father had gone smoothly. She was still disappointed, but she decided to take a little of it out in the training room, before jumping in the shower and re-dressing.

She felt much better afterward.

Lili now sat in her room, messing about on her laptop again. Her friends would be packing soon, leaving without her. She sipped at the iced coffee, this time containing just a little bit of Irish crème to relax her. She usually liked this after a training session.

She heard that her guard had arrived, and decided to go see if she could find him. She figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to introduce herself. Collecting her cup-she planned on going to the kitchen first to refill it-she headed downstairs, enjoying the pleasant ache left in her muscles from her training session.

He was apparently staying in the room next to hers, but did not see him in the hallway. She made her way downstairs to the kitchen, where she requested another large cup of the iced coffee from one of the cooks. She decided to go get some fresh air from the balcony while she waited.

As she turned the corner, she saw him standing on the balcony, apparently having a cigarette. Her eyes widened. He was big. Two meters tall, easily. She backed out, deciding to get her coffee first.

He was coming back in just as she returned. She was able to get a much better look at him, now.

Indeed, he was tall. Not only tall, but massive; he was easily the most powerfully built guard her father had managed to find. His skin was practically white he was so pale, and his eyes were the eeriest color of whitish-blue she had seen on a person. He had scars all over; his arms, some on his face, including a painful looking one on his lip, and on his chest-she imagined there were more under his tight, black tank top.

Besides that, he wore camouflage cargo trousers and a massive set of combat boots; probably the biggest she had ever seen. They had steel adorning them in a few places-the back, the toe, and even a little on other parts. His hands looked like they could palm another grown man's head if he wanted to.

Unlike other military men she had seen, his hair was fairly long; almost touching his shoulders, though he wore some of it back in a tail. He was clean-shaven and still extremely well groomed, though.

His very presence frightened her a bit...but she could not deny he was handsome. Very much so, in an almost unearthly way.

Where did this guy come from? Was the first thing she thought.

How many people has this guy killed? Was the second.

She blinked, coughing. She hoped that she didn't seem to appear to be staring at him.

"Mr. Dragunov?" she decided to ask. Her voice sounded timid in her ears, which was unlike her. She straightened up; she imagined it was just the sudden surprise of getting an actual, competent looking guard for once, compared to what they usually found. Dangerous was probably the more accurate word to describe this one.

"Sergei," he replied. His voice was a resonant baritone, with a clear Russian accent.

"Lili," she replied. "No need to call me 'Ms. Rochefort,' like the rest of them do." She snorted. She didn't need her bodyguard for what was going to be several months being too overly formal with her. While she loved being rich and pampered, she didn't necessarily need all of the titles with it. Unless it was someone she felt like making call her by her titles.

He smirked, nodding once politely. He walked off, keeping silent. Lili watched him go, blinking once before she rolled her eyes, though was smiling herself.

Gee, Dad. You found a real exciting one, didn't you? He looks impressive but I don't think I'll be making a lot of conversation here.

She didn't realize that she was watching him a bit longer than she had meant to as he left the kitchen.

Just a bit.

She chuckled, sitting at the table to send a few more messages out.

Hopefully this summer ends up more fun than I think it's going to be...


	44. Chapter 44

Reprieve

Fenris30

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Summary:

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After a rather eventful time, the summer is starting to come to and end-or what little summer they had, as the weather has been pretty dreadful on their end. With a possible massive storm brewing again-one worse than the last time-Sergei may need to hunt up where his targets are moving. Lili meanwhile is starting to like the new independence of city life, and while she would never give up her billions, is starting to realize she likes her current life a bit more than what she had been experiencing in Monaco, even with the extra danger involved...

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Chapter 1

Lili chuckled. "Look how many I put through the center." She placed the handgun down and took her headphones off.

Sergei smirked. "Do it again."

She scowled. "No praise this time?"

He simply looked down at her, his face unchanging...but she could see his eyes. His eyes could tell her how he felt in public, when he could not act physically.

They glittered with pride. She smirked softly up to him, donning the noise-reducing headphones once again. Sergei folded his arms again to look on.

Lili was getting rather skilled at shooting. She hit her targets well, and even managed to nail heart-shots on the paper targets more and more often. He noticed the more they came to the range, the more cool-headed she seemed; she was much, much more relaxed compared to the first time she was at the range; even the first three or four times.

He smirked at this as she carefully reloaded. He hoped, though, she would never have to use the gun in anger. He didn't want her to have to shoot anyone, especially to kill. But it never hurt to be careful.

He could tell she enjoyed being at the range, at least.

She aimed again, firing off several more rounds as Sergei loaded up his own large-caliber weapon and fired off several shots. The gun was noticeably louder than Lili's, which fired basic nine-millimeter rounds.

When she finished-hitting the target well a few more times-she placed her gun down after flipping the safety on and watched Sergei fire off his massive handgun. She had held it before; an Rsh-12, she remembered him saying. It was large, heavy, and it kicked like hell. She could still hear the chuckle that he tried to stifle when she was blown back a few inches after shooting it the first time before she understood just how strong the recoil was.

When he was finished, they both removed their headphones as he placed the gun down. He looked down at her as he leaned against the wall, folding his arms.

It was the end of summer and autumn was coming quickly, though the summer had been rather lousy all in all. It was just as well; the two of them had been so busy they weren't much able to enjoy it. Lili was still happy to be in New York, as she imagined she would have been a lot more bored in Monaco if there had been this much rain, wind, and generally miserable weather.

They had gotten up early today and snuck off to the range. Well, Sergei left first, going to get his practice in, but they had arranged for Lili to follow, given she was enjoying a couple of weeks of lighter work this week before diving back in come mid September.

Lili wasn't too nervous about being seen at the gun range, since she knew none of her household that was here even bothered. She sort of wondered about the rest of her guards, but there were other gun ranges in New York, and they picked a more out of the way one.

I wish we wouldn't have to be so secretive. But...this is what we signed up for. Both of us.

While he never told her, she could tell he would sometimes feel the same. She couldn't read his mind, or else a few of his thoughts may have brought her to tears...though not in any bad way.

She had been absently collecting her things as she thought, suddenly wanting to ride back with him instead of calling for the limo. We could take a longer route around. Thought they know he drives me from time to time, if I need extra protection.

"Can I ride with you?" she asked. It feels so absurd to ask that. We're in bed together as often as we can when he's working for us.

He smirked softly. "Of course."

"We can take our time getting back." She grabbed her light rain jacket. Sergei already had on his big, drab green oilskin coat; it was his jacket of choice for rainy days. He could wear it without the lining on warmer days-which he did now.

The sky seemed to just be spitting at them right now, but the wind had a bite to it. Sergei looked up for a moment, enjoying the feel of the cool wind in his hair. He looked over, seeing Lili pull her jacket around her, frowning.

"I'm trying to remember how many days this summer I didn't need this thing," she snorted. "Maybe two weeks total, and not all at once." She walked toward the large, armored jeep with him. "Is the Zaibatsu controlling the weather or something?"

He chuckled. "I might have opted for something different."

She smiled as she climbed up into the jeep. She loved when he'd actually let a little humor out.

The two of them tossed their things into the roomy back seat and climbed in. She adjusted her belt, musing that even in the summer she wore jeans, her low boots that she knew could repel water if it started to rain, a sleeveless shirt and an extra top over it; she thought it was ridiculous she couldn't be comfortable in a short skirt and a tank top this time of year. She tugged her jacket around herself and leaned back; the smells of the jeep comforting her.

It smelled of Sergei, and that was enough.

Looking outside, she didn't want to go back just yet; she had an idea.

"Can we go near the shore?"

He looked at her questioningly.

"Well...not on it, but around the boardwalk area. Near the end. Where it's empty." She chuckled. "With this weather it should be more than empty."

He nodded. "Of course." He started the jeep. For being as big as it was-and military, besides-it actually ran rather quietly, and was pretty smooth riding. It wasn't the limo, of course, but she didn't always need that.

These days she enjoyed being among 'ordinary' people a bit more, truth be told. She still loved her high status and money, of course, there would be nothing that could change that, but she sort of grew attached to the days she would sneak off to the one out of the way bar that served the amazing mozzarella sticks, or the days that she would ride with Sergei instead of in the limo.

She had no idea why-perhaps it was the fact she was no longer a teenager, and quickly realizing that she would be working full time for the company in a bit over two years.

Of course, she wouldn't give up the top end perks, no matter how many mozzarella sticks she ate.

Stretching in the surprisingly comfortable seat-she thought it would be horribly uncomfortable due to being a military jeep-she looked out the window at the swirling clouds as they drove toward one of the bridges. The water looked rough below; the wind was certainly churning everything up, and the tide was rather high.

Sergei glanced over at her a moment, before looking back to the road and reaching down to adjust the volume on the stereo. His usual driving music-rather harsh aggrotech or industrial metal-was playing. Symphony was his preference back at home-wherever that was. He had many. The barracks, in Western Russia, a small apartment in St. Petersburg, and another one in Moscow, mostly used if he had to travel for business.

And of course, wherever the Rocheforts were. He started to consider the manor a sort of home.

Somehow when he was out and about, he preferred harsher sounds. Perhaps because many of his travels took him into combat, and it just sort of stuck.

It didn't take them too long to reach their destination, driving mostly in silence. He looked out the window, noticing darker clouds yet swirling in. He pulled up to the walkway to stop the jeep, checking the weather on his pocket computer.

Something big was coming. He only hoped it didn't get in the way of his missions. If it was anything that could affect the docks-where the dealers tended to hide out-things could get quite hairy if they decided to pick up and move. He would have to zero in on them again and possibly have to begin a few things anew, which he really didn't want to do.

He inhaled, breathing in the humid salt air. It actually was rather pleasant, though the weather was stuck between hot, humid, and chill all at once. He did not spend too often at the shore, though. Most of his life had been spent more inland; this was something he did very rarely.

Lili had gotten out and stood by the railing, her coat loosely around her shoulders. She scowled at her hair that did not want to seem to stay in one spot due to the wind before finally tucking it under the coat.

The clouds over the water continued to darken, but she felt rather at peace. She simply wanted to be a bit away for awhile. She often didn't get to enjoy times like this, as she always felt it necessary to go out with a few friends on her days off, since she didn't get to see them as much as she used to.

I forget to take time for myself. I really shouldn't.

Though she often considered the time she spent with Sergei time for herself, anyway.

She looked over at him as he walked over next to her, the loose pieces of hair whipping around his head. He bent low to light a cigarette off of his steel-gray lighter, blocking the wind the best he could before taking a drag.

"Looks bad," she said.

"I'm a bit worried about the docks."

"How come?"

"That's where the syndicate tends to do their dirty work from."

Lili nodded, realizing. "Of course. The shipments come in via boat. Too risky by plane, I guess."

"Indeed."

She looked around, wanting to touch him, but decided to wait. "If something big hits, do you have a backup plan?"

He shrugged. "Contact my superiors and possibly try to take care of things ahead of time."

"Maybe they know about it, too."

"Then I will track down where their new hideout is."

She smirked, getting an idea of what would follow after that. Looking back out over the ocean-which was fairly far away as they were back on the desolate boardwalk-she could see it growing almost angry; the tide was going to be high tonight. She was glad she lived in her high-rise in the center.

The wind blew harder, but Lili simply smiled, taking her time there. Sergei finished his cigarette, patiently waiting as he always would. He looked over a moment.

"Anywhere else after this?"

"Food, maybe."

He nodded. "High end?"

She smirked. "I should today...but I'll think about it. You're welcome to stay there with me, though. Everyone else has been busy."

"I do sort of miss the takoyaki at that place."

Lili laughed, looking up at him for a few moments as he looked out over the ocean, absently fiddling with the lighter in his hand, seemingly debating whether or not to have another cigarette.

She was starting to get...thoughts, looking at him there. Thoughts that she would usually end up with when they were alone in a more private spot. But for some reason, she was getting them now. She glanced back at the jeep, allowing a few things to mill through her head.

It's roomy. He can also lower some barriers on the windows. It's high enough up that one wouldn't glance in and see someone on the backseat accidentally if they were laying down.

Wait. Am I considering...

She wasn't sure what came over her, but she felt a touch daring again as she looked at him. She wasn't sure what it was...but she suspected that she knew that it had been a little while, and they might end up a bit busy tonight; well, she was off, but she feared he may be on extra duty due to the weather.

I mean, maybe if we don't take our chance now, we might lose it for a few days. That wouldn't do at all now, would it?

If he refused, she would understand, and probably think it was for the best. But...surely...

She coughed. "How...roomy is it back there?"

Sergei smirked, turning toward her and looking her up and down; he knew the exact look she had on her face, and what her question meant. He decided to follow along. "Why do you ask?"

"Well...you said you'd be busy..."

There was no one around, and it was unlikely anyone would come up to disturb the military-looking vehicle. They usually kept much more secretive than this, but...for some reason, he was feeling just a little bit daring, and given she seemed curious herself...he began to think about a few possibilities.

Even if worse came to worst, he suspected that her father would not completely lose it if he found out. He was far too loving to disown her, and he had no reason to. He would disapprove for sure, mostly out of fear he imagined-but still, it was something they had to keep discreet, just for everyone involved.

Sergei was more worried about his enemies than anything-he did not want them to know.

But they would not. There was no one around, and nowhere for anyone to even spy if there was. Plus, he could block the windows; he had them built in to better protect from crossfire if necessary.

He figured she was right; he may be busy tonight, depending on the path and severity of the storm.

She walked around to the side as he started to open the door. "Have you ever slept here?"

"Of course. Better than a tent in the winter."

The jeep was large and it could fit him if he lay down, though she imagined he would be just a little cramped due to his height. She couldn't quite believe she was doing this...but she had gotten bolder. He had, as well. In...this way, anyway. Sergei was not a man afraid of anything, per se...but they were always quite discreet.

He climbed in first to fix the shutters on the windows; the front ones would stay open, but a barrier could be put up between the front and the back to prevent anyone from seeing in. Adjusting the guns into the very back and a few other odds and ends, before she knew it, they had an almost cozy setup.

"This doesn't even look bad to have to sleep in."

He smirked. "It can work." He dug around, pulling out a somewhat rough blanket which he lay down on the seat. She touched it.

"Too rough?"

She made a face. "I'm not that spoiled." She sat back against the seat to prove the point.

He snorted laughter. He never laughed long and hard-it was not his style. A chuckle here and there. But she knew what it meant, as he rarely did it with anyone else.

The jeep was warm enough due to the humidity. Lili had a moment of hesitation, but then shook her head, sliding off her boots and jeans, though staying partially dressed. Sergei removed his shirt before leaning forward to give her a sudden kiss, which he deepened rather quickly. A touch startled, she leaned back before sliding her fingers into his hair.

The startled feeling lasted only for a moment, and it was not unpleasant at all. She was more surprised he was so into the idea.

Sergei didn't think he would be any worse than he usually was, until he was in the back, and then it all sort of hit him at once. Perhaps it was her willingness to be a little more daring that ended up turning him on even more. He knew he'd have to keep things short, but that would not be a problem.

He leaned down to kiss her stomach several times after the kiss broke, but then trailed back up to her neck as Lili quivered in his grasp, exhaling softly. His hand traced down her side before sliding up her leg, firmly massaging her thigh. She arched her back, enjoying the feeling of his strong hand running up and down her leg slowly.

She moved forward to kiss him lightly several times, opening her mouth to allow him to flick his tongue over her lips. Sergei was clearly cramped in his position; he basically positioned himself on the floor in front of the seat. Given there was no divider on the floor, it wasn't too bad, though, and he was more concerned with having a bit of fun right now.

He teased her with his tongue, sliding his lips down to her neck to kiss it slowly, his hand moving between her legs. Lili moaned lightly at the feeling of his breath on her neck as he teased her. I thought he wanted to hurry this along, she thought, though she certainly wasn't complaining.

He looked up, smirking a moment as he rest his head on her. She played a moment with his hair like she always liked to as he slid down to kiss her stomach. He did so slowly, to better tease her. He didn't linger too long, but he had to tease her a little. He soon trailed down, his tongue lightly tracing over her mound a few moments before slowly parting her as he continued to rub her leg with one hand. He positioned himself on the floor with his legs behind him the best he could. He was glad the jeep had a fairly roomy interior, though he could not deny he was cramped.

She exhaled, leaning her head back to enjoy his pleasure.

He knew he couldn't linger as long as he liked, but he snaked his tongue down to flick against her quickly as he reached his other hand down to stroke himself. His own breathing grew heavier; he never really expected to be a daring type when it came to this, but he went with his instinct. He pushed closer, his tongue working faster as he covered it in her taste; he felt incredibly close to her at the moment...partially, he imagined, because they were in a rather tight situation at the moment.

Lili tried to catch her breath; he quickened his actions, making it difficult to hold on. She bit her lip and rubbed the back of his head, enjoying how his soft hair felt between her fingers as she felt him bring his tongue up to her clit and tease it, circling around. She moaned low, thrusting her hips toward him.

He began to suck at her clit, sliding a finger in and out a few times before bringing his hand back as he teased her more with his tongue as he felt the signs of her orgasm; he heard her moan out in pleasure as she came finally. He pressed to her, bringing his mouth down to enjoy her taste until she calmed.

She looked down at him as he smirked, resting his face-which was quite wet-on her stomach a few moments while she recovered. There was something incredibly hot on how he could get her off so quickly if he wanted. Something about just how well he knew her by now.

"Do we have time?" she asked after catching her breath.

He nodded, preparing himself to enter her. He was harder than anything, knowing that things would not take too long. She wanted to reciprocate, but knew that it was just a little cramped to maneuver around, and she could always surprise him back at the room, anyway.

She sort of liked his expression when she did that, anyway.

He slid in, sitting for a moment. The rain drumming on the roof of the large jeep was almost relaxing despite the intensity that was going on inside. Lili pulled his face down to kiss him as he began to thrust.

Time seemed to not matter for those few moments; Lili felt even closer to him, as he seemed to be willing to break out of his usual comfort zones with her...something she knew he did not do easily. It didn't take him long to nip at her chest lightly and come; he was already far too aroused to hold on much longer.

He relaxed as the waves of pleasure passed over him. Lili sighed in contentment, staying silent a few moments. The jeep, being a small enclosed space...well it would be best to say she hoped no one poked their head in even after they got dressed, as the scent had made it quite obvious that something had happened. After some time she fumbled with his hair.

"Well that was new."

He smirked, touching her under the chin. "We should start to move soon."

She shifted, the spot underneath of her rather wet. It was quite easy for him to cause her to be utterly soaked after her these days. "I guess we should head out to eat."

"The fancier place still?"

She nodded. "You wanted the takoyaki."

He smirked, pausing to kiss her for a few moments before adjusting himself to get ready. She watched him.

So many things I wish I could talk about with my friends but I can't. Ahh well, I think there's something nice about secrets...


	45. Chapter 45

Lili walked about the kitchen, finishing up the bit of food that remained on her plate. She knew Sergei had eaten in his own room tonight...probably the same thing, she imagined. He had some of his own duties tonight, and as usual they tried to keep up appearances by splitting apart from time to time.

There was plenty left over-they had brought a large variety of sushi rolls-so she put it in the fridge. After closing the door, her eyes fell on a nice bottle of wine she had nearby. She paused to examine it.

She suddenly decided she wanted a few drinks tonight. She wasn't sure why, but she hadn't actually sat down to more than one glass of wine in weeks. Her life had been work, some training, and some family things. She saw friends now and again for lunch, but she hadn't been out for awhile. Sebastian had shown a bit of concern toward her, but she figured he usually did so that was nothing new.

She took the bottle and opened it; it was one of her favorite rose wines. It was just a bit sweet-rather balanced, to be sure-just how she liked it. She poured herself a large glass and sat down on her sofa to look out the window. The air conditioner took the edge off the humidity, and the cloud cover over the city threatened yet more rain; there was a brief respite for a few days, but it didn't last long.

Lili thought to herself how she loved being at the top of a skyscraper; it made her feel like she owned the city.

She chuckled. It's a fun thought.

As she sipped her wine, she flipped through her laptop, filing a few bits of information away before closing it. Just as she was putting it on the table, there was a soft knock.

She smirked as she went to go let her guest in; she knew exactly who had that knock.

As she suspected, Sergei stood there, stretching his huge body out as if he had been sitting for awhile. He smirked down at her, looking at the wine glass. She smiled.

"Relaxing tonight," she said, letting him in and closing and locking the door. She locked both locks, just in case, even though she knew no one would ever come in without her permission unless it was an emergency.

"Mmm," he replied, a rather content tone to his voice, as if he liked the idea. He went to the kitchen, knowing where the alcohol was kept. He figured he would join her for a few. Lili liked this idea-she often did not get to drink with him, and she thought it could make for a fun night if they did, even though she rarely drank to excess, and knew he didn't either.

She sat again, watching him grab a small glass and pour himself some of her finer whiskey, which he took over to where she was sitting. She knew he liked to down vodka in a gulp, but he'd sip a fine whiskey.

They drank in silence for the first fifteen minutes or so. As always-it was a comfortable, familiar silence; the kind that one knew that one didn't have to say anything to fill the void. Just the company was enough. Lili decided to break the silence, as she would. She did like to talk.

"Everything going well with..."

"As well as it can," he replied, sipping his drink. "It's been slow going. I think they've been hiding."

"You'll find them." She smirked a bit evilly as she took a rather decent drink of the wine. She somehow felt like she wanted to drink this off and then fill another glass.

"Thirsty tonight?" he said, snorting laughter.

"Maybe." She drank a little more, thinking. "We haven't really sat around like this."

"Not really."

She smiled. "Always up for something new. "

"You seem to be," he chuckled.

She grinned-she figured it was him making an offhand comment about the incident in the jeep the other day-and finished her glass. She stood to refill it, with Sergei joining her. He thought for a moment, deciding to bring the bottle back to the couch where they sat. She blinked.

"Hitting it hard tonight?" She usually didn't see him drink too heavily.

"Maybe a few extra."

"You get no time to relax, do you?"

He shook his head.

She leaned over to touch his face. He smiled softly when she did this; her touch was always something he could appreciate. She went back to her wine, sipping it as he went to look out the window at the city which had barely gotten a chance to dry off before the rains hit again. He hadn't remembered rain like this since he had been in a monsoon.

"You were checking me out that day in the pool, weren't you," Lili said after a time. She was well through the current glass she had, though she held her alcohol well and was not that far into the bottle.

"That day?"

"Way back. When I called you out for singing."

He chuckled. "It was long ago."

She snorted. "You have a good memory."

"Maybe I was."

Lili laughed. "Maybe."

He shrugged, sipping his whiskey. He was sort of enjoying this.

"How long?" she asked pointedly, an eyebrow raised.

"Hm?"

"How long were you checking me out for?" She finished her glass, pouring another. She started to debate some sort of food soon. She had plenty on hand, and after another glass of wine she'd even consider microwaving it herself.

"Just then."

She believed him. She knew he wasn't the type to lie. "I didn't mind. Especially after..." her looked softened. The wine-while not too much-was just enough to make her brave. "What made you...touch me that night? On the balcony?"

Sergei thought a few moments, finishing his drink. "You seemed...alone."

Lili smiled softly. "I think I was. I didn't really realize it." She repositioned, filling her glass. "I had, and still have a lot of friends, and am close to my family, but..." This line of thought never entered her head too often, but now she was thinking it over. "They're rich, but they live different lives than me." She looked toward him again, sighing.

He simply nodded, allowing her to continue.

"You know. Kind of." She sipped, chuckling at something. She had spoken so much English the past few years-in her job and with him-that her accent was disappearing when she actually spoke it. She had known friends who had studied abroad in places, and similar things happened.

One could think of strange and random things while a little tipsy. She finally continued.

"I don't know what did it. When you did that..." she had no idea why she was telling the story of how her feelings came about, but there it was. "I was...a little scared around you at first. Not much," she said quickly, puffing up for a moment. "But just a little. You...you know."

He smirked slightly, pouring a little more whiskey into the glass. "That is what your father wanted. Well, not for you to fear. But he wanted someone like me."

"It seemed so. None of the other guards were sufficient for him. I mean I could have taken a couple of them, I think." She laughed. "And then...the...men...I never knew anyone who could do that to a person with their bare hands."

Sergei sipped his drink silently, but raised his eyebrow once.

"But then you touched me. You were like this...I don't know." She had a feeling the wine was getting to her. She didn't feel drunk at all, just a little buzzed, but she was talking a lot.

He looked at her. "I was glad I did."

She blinked. She didn't actually expect him to admit it.

Sergei said nothing more, he simply sat and looked out the window, enjoying the sound of the rain on it. He was quite comfortable right now, slumped on the couch, a glass of very fine whiskey in his huge, scarred hands and Lili there on the couch next to him. She proceeded to move closer to him, leaning on him as she drank.

Okay, maybe I'll ask him some more. Why not...

After a time, she decided to speak up again. "So...what made you..." she chuckled. The slightly evil look on her face told him what she was thinking of.

He shifted, looking down at her. "It just took time."

"Same, I think. That..." she chuckled, shifting. She thought about the very first time again and shivered. Even though the two of them had about as regular sex as people in their situation could, she had very fond memories of that night. One minute they had been experimenting, and the next minute he had spent roughly the next hour with his head between her legs. Whatever both of them lacked in experience they more than made up for it with instinct, an before long they were quite in tune with what each other liked.

He turned toward her, touching her under the chin for a moment and then instigating a lingering kiss. Breaking it after a few moments, he leaned back to drain his glass again. He barely even seemed to have a buzz.

"If the servants hadn't come by the first night...would you have continued?" He had proceeded to kiss far down her stomach, coming dangerously close to her midsection when they had heard servants in the hallway.

"Probably." His smirk was a little evil as well, now. He actually continued. "You seemed quite cozy during that one training session."

She laughed. "Maybe I was. I..." Okay, the truth was she sort of wanted to actually kiss him that day the first time, but she resisted. "After a few more of our training sessions, I realized how I may have felt."

He nodded, still smirking. He poured a little more into his glass. Lili wasn't doing too badly, having drank three glasses of wine so far.

"I don't know why I got curious about all of this so suddenly," she said. "I guess...even after this two years I wonder...someone like you..." she stopped. "I mean, I didn't mean that in a bad way."

He shook his head. "I know what you mean."

"I...always appreciated how you never...pushed me down. Like my family could. In terms of my abilities."

She paused. "Not like that...more...my dad is always worried. You fought right next to me."

"You can handle yourself. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well...we do have a bit of a...difference." She chuckled.

"Still, I trust you."

She nodded, feeling just a little more buzzed now. She thought maybe taking the giant sushi platter out soon would be a good idea...or just eating anything, for that matter. "I'm going to call for a few things. Tell them to leave it outside."

He nodded, sitting back and relaxing on the couch as he watched the rain outside. He heard Lili call down, ordering a tray of varied snacks; he suspected there would be pastries and the like, probably all made this morning. Things did not stop for the Rocheforts, no matter if they were home or on a job. Sergei had recalled a few times watching Mr. Rochefort on a trip, it was similar.

She came back soon after and sat back down next to him, sipping her wine and chuckling.

"When you went back to your room that first night..." she started, an evil little smirk at the corner of her mouth.

He snorted laughter, raising his eyebrow. "What do you think?"

Why did I just ask him that...?

...It must be the wine.

"I figured." She shivered a bit, thinking of that first time. "It was more than just physical, though. I...for me."

He nodded, the smirk-and the surprisingly gentle look in his eyes-said most of what he was thinking. He felt the same.

She laughed, drinking the wine. "I never would have thought it. Like...I always thought I'd end up with some rich businessman and then inherit the company."

"I never thought I'd work so much for one place," he replied.

"I also realize that we could have died a lot of times over. You...took care of that."

"My duty." He paused. "It became more."

Lili sipped her wine, looking absently out the window. "I never thought of all the guys I met I'd fall in love with the deadly one." She chuckled.

He blinked, looking silently at her a moment. He raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, I didn't mean it badly, Sergei. You know me. I...like how dangerous you are."

"It...wasn't that," he replied, finishing his glass.

Her eyes grew wide after a few moments as she remembered her words. Did I just sort of...confess...

...Maybe I've had enough wine.

She put her glass down, shaking her head a moment. She was actually quite fine; a bit tipsy, but that was it.

"I mean, I wasn't trying..." Her words were cut off as his huge hand ran down the side of her face and he met her in a kiss, his tongue gently probing her mouth, just the way she liked it. His hand continued to cup the side of her face, much like that first night. As usual, it made her feel calm.

It broke, though it lasted awhile. He smirked at her as he continued to trace his thumb over her mouth for a moment. She kissed it once, running the tip of her tongue up it.

Sergei smiled, glad she said what she did. The feeling was rather mutual after all.

He wasn't one to say much back, though. But he thought back to their first times and smirked as he began to kiss down her neck, nipping a bit at the skin of her shoulders, attempting to place the bites out of the way enough that they would not be noticed.

His mind just a little bit clouded at the moment, his thoughts shifted a bit as he ran his hands down her body; he remembered how he wanted to experiment with her, and how something had just come over him after their first kiss.

He also thought back again to that first time and how much he enjoyed it. It would enter his mind now and again randomly, mostly his feelings and how everything lead up to that moment.

Kissing her again, several times lightly on the mouth, he had to shift again; everything was, naturally, getting them both extremely horny.

Lili stopped him a moment. "Is the door locked?" she said, breathless. His hand pushed up the thin tank top she wore so he could kiss around her stomach a few moments before sitting up and nodding, sliding his shirt off. He usually checked these things when he came in, just in case.

It was not weird to see him come and go from her area as he was, technically, hired as her personal bodyguard...but appearances were good to keep up.

Well this changed direction rather quickly, she thought for a moment as he continued to kiss around her torso.

Having shared some drinks together-and a lot of discussion-Lili felt very good at the moment, and the feel of his lips against her skin-as well as his hands running up and down her sides-was turning her on quicker than she could even imagine.

The two had quickly stripped most of their clothing away; they didn't bother removing the rest for now as they seemed to want to get back into it. His memories of that first night for some reason were hitting him quite hard right now, and he nuzzled low on her stomach, kissing her slowly, much like he did that first time.

She shivered, knowing he was teasing her when he refused to go lower for what seemed to be a bit too long. He looked up at her, a small smirk on his face as he slid one of his hands into hers. She locked fingers with him, gently touching the back of it as he continued to tease her; she was getting so wet at this point she was about to push him down there.

He stopped to push up to kiss her more this time, though. He sat back on the couch, letting her on top of him. She crawled forward, straddling his hips as she gave him a squeeze before she met him in a kiss again; they hadn't really said much since Lili's little confession. But his touch was firmer than usual, in a way that made Lili feel both turned on...and incredibly secure. She didn't even mind the light biting he was doing. She could hide the marks...and give right back, which she could judge by his grunts he enjoyed.

He started to tug at her, motioning for her to sit up a bit more on him.

She knew exactly what he was asking, and happily-and very quickly-obliged. She almost squealed due to how sensitive she was when she felt his tongue begin to gently probe her.

Sergei didn't stay too gentle for long, though-quickly picking up his pace, grasping her waist as she sat over him, trying to stay steady the best she could as shaking gasps escaped her throat. His eyes were closed and his tongue was working furiously; he was not necessarily trying to hurry, but he wanted to feel her shudder against him at least once before they began to take their time.

Lili shivered as she felt him begin to suck at her clit, rolling his tongue over it as she gasped loudly, holding her mouth and giggling a moment due to the fact they were still on the couch. She leaned over, shuddering as she came. She could feel him giving long licks up and down to finish her off, taking in what he could. He was pressed into her, his position ensuring he would be in a lot of pain soon if he didn't release himself somehow. If she was too tired, he would just use his hand.

She collapsed off to the side, moving herself off of his face, though she giggled at the feel of his tongue teasing her just a little more as she moved away. Grinning a second, she turned around to take him immediately into her mouth, though she didn't move her midsection from his head.

He seemed fairly content where he was, after all.

He grunted at the surprise-a little louder than normal-before tilting his head back a few moments and closing his eyes; a small smirk appeared on his face as he stroked her rear and thighs. He enjoyed her pleasure; giving her a chance to recover for some moments before picking up again.

Running her nails down his massive legs-she loved touching them-she sucked him deeply; he moaned low in his chest at the feeling of it, his huge hands continuing to rub her. She squealed herself when she felt him suddenly begin to lick her again, starting right around her clit and tracing backward...going rather far back this time.

Trying to focus could be difficult during times like these.

She took him as deep as she could, sucking him rather hard the whole time, using her hands to trace underneath and back to tease him with her slim fingers. He would occasionally let out a louder grunt or moan when she would do something particularly good. Lili herself was trying to keep as quiet as she could, but it was rather hard with him having full access to her midsection with his mouth and tongue, occasionally biting lightly at her thighs, causing her gasps to be a little louder than she would have liked.

She eventually tensed up, feeling herself orgasm again as she had to stop for a moment, the waves of pleasure going through her body as she gently moved her hips against him. He was about as hard as he could stand it; as soon as she was finished-and she was able to catch her breath, she rolled off of him...landing on the floor.

"Oof," she said, her eyes heavy. She giggled. He sat up, stroking himself slowly as he stood off the couch to hover over her right on the floor as he prepared himself to enter her, a questioning look on his face.

She guided him in, that being answer enough as she pulled him close to kiss him.

Sergei was pretty sure he was only going to be able to last a few minutes this time; he was almost in pain, but he was able to bite it back. He thrust quickly, Lili's legs snapping around him as he always liked. He moaned in answer, dipping his head down to nip gently at her breast.

He tensed soon after and released; she tightened around him and wrapped her legs around him as he continued to thrust a few more times before finally relaxing, pulling out and rolling off to the side. Sweat was beading on his forehead, as even the air conditioning in the room couldn't help the intensity they had just felt.

Lili leaned over, looking at him and playing with a few pieces of his hair that had long since come out of its tail. Her buzz was almost gone from the excitement, it seemed.

"That was...sudden."

He shrugged, as he always would, before leaning over to kiss her lightly on the mouth again. He eyed the door to the shower.

She didn't know it at the time, but her words really hit him that day.

–-

She grabbed another pastry off the tray, sipping a large mug of spiked coffee. Sergei had his own; his had vodka, while she opted for amaretto this time. It went rather nicely with the fruit-filled pastries that they had brought for her, fresh from the ovens. It wasn't usual they had these, but she remembered her father was meeting with a few important people this evening and they had probably requested refreshments.

They decided to keep themselves somewhat sharp with the coffee while still enjoying a bit of alcohol. Their sex, subsequent shower and just the time that passed had removed some of their buzz, though a bit remained.

Lili was in deep thought; she had just had a wonderful time once again...but she wanted to know things. More things.

"What if you had to leave? Like, for good?" she blurted out.

He blinked. "I don..."

She stood, putting a hand over his mouth. "You always say that. Are you telling the truth? Or just trying to forget about things?"

He looked up at her, gently removing her hand from his mouth, though keeping it in his own. "I don't think about it. Because I cannot." He sipped his coffee.

"What do you mean?" she said, her voice quieter.

"I cannot, because I would make myself crazy otherwise," he stated pointedly, his pale eyes looking right at her...almost through her.

She blinked, putting her glass down to touch his face. Her finger absently traced down the twisted scar on his lip, which she knew he got when he was only a teenager. Younger than she was when they first met, which she recalled was a couple of months before her eighteenth birthday.

He smiled softly. "You understand."

She nodded, smiling back. Her stomach was doing sort of flips; it almost felt like the first few days they were actually really spending time with each other. She didn't know why she was getting that feeling again. Grabbing another pastry, she absently nibbled on it as she spiked another cup of coffee and sat closer to him.

Sergei ran a hand through her damp hair; she hadn't dried it completely after they had gotten out of the shower. He enjoyed thinking back on everything. Time with her was some of the rare time that he was able to escape his normally dangerous, brutal and violent life; one that he would not give up, but he was nonetheless glad for being able to get a reprieve from it, even if it was only occasionally.

He grabbed some more food himself, finishing off his coffee and refilling his mug, spiking it with more vodka. He still had a tiny buzz going, which was perfect. He had drank quite a bit this night, but he had a pretty exceptional tolerance.

Lili seemed to notice this and chuckled. "Have you ever gotten drunk? Like really drunk?"

He smirked. "Of course. I grew up in the Russian military."

She laughed. Of course. He's probably drank his fair share. "When you were younger, I guess."

He nodded. "Teenage years." It seemed like so long ago, even though he was only thirty.

It was sort of strange to realize her own teenage years had only just passed, but it felt like so long ago. She didn't know what sort of vacuum she had been living in; perhaps something about school, being whisked around the world, trained to run a company and targeted for death more than once could do things to one's perception of time.

"I have to ask you to tell me more about those one day." She finished a second pastry.

"Wasn't much but training, fighting, and discipline."

"That's it?"

"It was the military." He shrugged. Besides his scarring and some of his early fights-and the stories he had already told-they truly were not anything terribly interesting besides that, especially given he mostly kept to himself. He did, though, from time to time go out drinking with people, even if he was quiet.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I would occasionally go out to drink. Perhaps a bit too much now and again. Some bar fights. I had a temper." He smirked at that.

"Nothing serious."

"No. Just people who stayed away after. I was sent to the front lines soon after the experiments, though."

"Nights out few and far between after that, then."

Sergei nodded. He leaned back, sipping his drink and staring out the window at the rain that pounded mercilessly against the window. He felt extremely relaxed...and truth be told, looking at her in her underwear and tank top that she always wore after sex-a bit turned on again.

She nearly spat out her coffee when she felt his hand smooth over her rear and his lips on her stomach.

"Sergei..." she giggled as she began to play with his hair...not pushing him away, however. She quickly set her cup down. "Didn't we..."

He glanced up at her, the look in his eyes stating rather frankly that he wasn't thinking about what they just did, but what he was about to do.

She tilted his head up to kiss him as he stood, picked her up, and took her back to the couch, before she slid onto the floor after not getting a particularly good seat.

Sergei simply continued where he left off with her on the carpet. He didn't even bother taking her shirt off, nor his trousers-he pulled down her underwear, smirking at her little squeal of surprise as he wasted no time whatsoever. He figured if he took some time down here he'd get hard again soon enough.

Lili was already sensitive from her previous time; and his actions had gotten her aroused even when they were kissing in the kitchen. She relaxed on the thick,soft carpet-Lili only liked the finest things as décor, of course-sliding her hands through his hair and moaning rather loudly as she felt his tongue begin to swirl gently around her clit.

No complaints here...her thoughts were only fleeting, though, as she glanced at him, seeing him with his eyes closed as he pleasured her again contentedly.

He didn't know what hit him, except for that he decided he wasn't quite finished with her from before. He slid his tongue inside of her, thrusting it quickly as her legs wrapped around his head. Gently teasing her again, mindful of her sensitivity, it nonetheless didn't take him too long to get her moaning loudly in pleasure.

Lili thrust her hips toward his mouth as she enjoyed the extra pleasure he decided to give; it was a pleasant surprise. They often didn't go at it more than once in a day...they usually didn't have time. She was sort of hoping they would end up with more time like this again in the future.

Sergei teased her a bit more before sucking at her clit roughly; soon after she shuddered against him and came. It seemed like she had been even more aroused the second time as she massaged his head with quite a bit of energy as she bucked her hips against him. When he was sure she was finished he knelt in front of her, smirking.

She looked up at him, her thoughts fleeting once again that she was quite lucky to find a guy who enjoyed this as much as he did. She slowly moved over to lean against him, his arms sliding around her.

Neither made an effort to move for a long time.

Sergei walked back into the room and sat by the wall, looking out the window at the growing darkness. Lili came over to sit next to him, only to have him quickly pull her onto his lap. They had briefly showered one more time, having gotten a bit...excited again.

She relaxed rather easily, sliding her arms around him. She felt extremely comfortable this moment; somehow on the odd times they had slightly deeper discussions, it felt rather nice to her. Probably since he was still somewhat of a closed book, even to her.

These quiet moments afterward meant a lot to both of them, even though they never said. She could tell by the look on Sergei's face; one of contentment-when out and about it was neutral...sometimes threatening, though it was part of his job. He felt more relaxed than normal tonight. She was usually good at figuring out his mood.

Lili decided not to say anything more, though. She knew how much he disliked speaking...yet he was quite verbose tonight. She didn't want to tire him out...well, any more than whatever actions they did already had.

She though she may have been more tired than him, though.

They both continued to stare out the window. The skyscrapers lit up slowly as night fell; the varied-colored neon lights giving the city an almost oppressive sort of glow, the corporate buildings seemingly owning everything these days.

Sergei smoothed down her hair, deciding to rest his head on her as he sat there. She sighed.

I won't think about the future. Just now. That's all.


End file.
